A Grimm Mistake
by BlandHazyApathy
Summary: You always make amends for your mistakes, else they'll come back to haunt you and rip you up with regret until they eat you whole. A vicious killer hunts Vale's underworld after delivering a weapon to Beacon from a long-dead boy that many had condemned as a liar, a weapon sporting a new terrifying message across its once beautiful sword and shield: "-WBY/GOODWITCH - YOUR FAULT."
1. Chapter 1

Life was full of mistakes; some could even argue that it was just one massive journey filled to the brim with little accidents that never should have happened in the first place yet did so regardless. Most mistakes were simply that as well, innocent little accidents that people could look back on in times of peace and chuckle at due to the sheer absurdity of the situation in question. Others though… others were horrible things that filled those looking back with nothing but regret and the desperate need to make amends for whatever it was they did.

" _Nonononono! Stop sinking!_ " A desperate cry echoed through Ozpin's office as he replayed a clip of the final words from one of his greatest mistakes. " _I am_ not _dying to a hungry tar pit, you hear me?!_ " How had this happened? " _I'm getting out of here… I'll get back with proof… fix everything…"_ The desperate frustration was clear in the voice and it just ate at Ozpin more. How had he _let_ this happen? " _It'll all go back to how it was, I'll get my friends back and-augh!_ " The growled words devolved into a pained snarl and a few gasps. " _I'll prove them all wrong! I'll be the hero I always wanted to be!_ " The panting breaths became more and more desperate. " _It's an Arc promise damn it! An Arc never goes back on their word!_ " Ozpin could _hear_ the tears as Jaune Arc tried to convince himself he'd survive. " _I am_ not _dying here! I am_ not _giving up after everything I-AUGH!_ " A louder cry as whatever was hurting him came more intensely and made him break off into whimpers. " _Please just let me get out of this…_ " the voice began to fade. " _Let me get out and fix this!"_ The boy screamed with frustration. _"I'm so close! I'M SO CLOSE TO-_ " The sound of his elevator pinging briefly captured his attention.

A sigh quickly followed from the doorway. "Ozpin please stop this," a switch on his console flicked and the screen before him shut off. "You need to move on," Glynda Goodwitch came from the open elevator to stand in front of his desk. "It's been a month, he isn't coming back sir," her words gave away no emotion despite the sour taste it left in her mouth.

"I'm well aware of that Glynda," Ozpin replied through steepled fingers as he stared into the space where the screen had been. "That doesn't mean I accept it though, or understand it for that matter."

"What else is there to understand sir?" Her tone was solemn as she went to the window behind him. "A boy lied his way into your school-"

"Which I was aware of from the beginning," Ozpin cut in, not even looking at her. "And he came to us on his own to confess."

"-And then in a desperate attempt to earn his way back he accepted a mission he was not ready for," Glynda's jaw tightened while Ozpin held back noting how she was the one who suggested the mission, Jaune Arc was not a good memory for her. "A mission that he dragged his team and that of team RWBY into which nearly got all of them seriously injured and almost killed-"

"A mission he still completed," Ozpin replied, causing the woman to whirl on him.

"A mission team _RWBY_ completed while that young fool went and got himself killed for _nothing_!" She heaved in a breath and tried to steady herself. "… You should have just expelled him that day like I asked for sir," her eyes fell to the floor sadly. "I always knew he'd end up getting someone hurt because of his inexperience… I just hoped I wouldn't be right."

"Perhaps, but we'll never know for sure about that now, will we?" Ozpin's gaze fell to the mug on his desk but he didn't reach for it, for once he didn't feel a craving. "Did you need something Glynda?" He asked through a sigh.

The woman took a calming breath and straightened herself. "Yes sir I did, it's Team JNPR again," she said while presenting her scroll. "Miss Nikos has sent another person to the infirmary."

"Context?" Ozpin asked while taking the device and playing the video on it. It was a soundless clip from one of Beacon's security cameras, showing Pyrrha standing stock still while another student he didn't immediately recognize appeared to boast and laugh about something.

"They said something about mister Arc and it… _upset_ her," upset was a mild way of putting it as a black-glow engulfed the student's armor and proceeded to drag them up then smash them into the ground and walls of the hallway repeatedly as the girl looked on with unmasked _hatred_. "It's becoming a problem sir, this is the fourth person she's put down in the month since his… _death_ ," she winced as she spoke the word.

It had affected team JNPR about as much as Ozpin had first expected, though the Spartan once again exceeded his expectations, this time with the level of her grief and her violent way of dealing with it. Perhaps the intensity of her reactions could be linked to the fact that she was the one that had convinced the boy to confess about his transcripts in the first place, or perhaps it had to do with the bond that had grown between them the night they'd made up after the incident at Forever Falls, Ozpin couldn't tell. What he could tell however was that his death ate at her, and her remaining teammates as well as the members of team RWBY who'd been assigned to assist in the mission on that day. The two teams that had once shown with such a hopeful and innocent light had dimmed and seemed to teeter on an edge of something horrible that no-one seemed able to pull them from.

Ozpin sighed, unaware of the black spec that appeared outside his window. "I suppose I'll have to have a word with her soon," he said while the spec grew larger as it sped towards the glass, revealing a man-sized Nevermore clutching something in its talons. "Fetch her after her next class, give her time to-" his words cut off at the sound of glass cracking and metal grinding together as something slammed into his window.

Both supervisors turned to face the sound, ready for an attack to follow… but nothing came and the two could only stare at the wide, white with black scars and scrapes, pointed object sticking halfway through the glass as a Nevermore flew away. The initial question of how the Grimm had gotten into the perimeter was quickly forgotten as their stares widened the moment they realized what the item the beast had left behind was: A shield, its pointed bottom sticking through Ozpin's window while a blue hilt stuck out from the top outside the glass. They recognized it almost instantly, and it felt like someone dropped a bag of rocks into their stomachs: Crocea Mors, but the appearance of the lost weapon wasn't what truly shocked them, no it was what was written across its side.

"Glynda?" Ozpin kept his eyes on the shield while his assistant could only nod quietly, her eyes never leaving the weapon as she took hold of it with her Semblance.

The glass around the shield splintered, cracked and finally hung in the air as the sword and shield were dragged into the room before the damage it had left was patched up. Ozpin looked over the set once wielded so clumsily by an innocent boy that only wanted to be a hero, and he found himself worried at what he saw. The once pristine face was a mess, covered in an assortment of black splotches here and there alongside bits of its edge that almost seemed as though they'd been melted by an acid. There was then nothing to alleviate his worries as he clearly read the two simple lines of text written in black across the shield's face.

 **"-** _ **-**_ **WBY,"** he frowned slightly at how the R had been scratched out but tucked it away for later as he read the next line. " **GOODWITCH,** " he turned to his assistant who looked back both confused and cautious as the man turned back to the set and slowly wrapped his hand around the hilt of the sword, readying his Aura for anything. What they saw when he removed the blade harmlessly sent a tremor of dread through both adults as the Headmaster read it aloud: " _ **YOUR FAULT**_ **,** " drawn in wide hate filled strokes across the once beautiful blade.

"Glynda…" Ozpin didn't look away from writing on the sword as he addressed the now clearly shaken woman. "Call a meeting, _now_ ," he ordered. "I want everyone there: Teachers, students-" the next word faded out as his assistant's Scroll began buzzing on his desk from a call.

Glynda blinked and shook herself from her stupor as she went to grab her device, a weak glare on her face as she took hold of it. "Yes sir, I'll insure everyone gets there personally," she swiped the reject button, cancelling the unknown call as Ozpin came to her side.

"I'm accompanying you," the way he said it left no room for argument. "Someone out there has just marked you for something and I will not-" again Glynda's Scroll buzzed and the woman repressed a growl as she saw it was the same unknown caller.

"I appreciate it sir, but it's unnecessary," once more she swiped the reject call option. "I'm perfectly capable of defending myself against whatever disgusting-" she let out a snarl when her Scroll buzzed _again_. "Excuse me one second," she accepted the call, ready to chew out whoever was on the line. "Listen whoever you are, I don't care what it is you want but now is _not_ the-" the weak whimpering cries on the other side killed whatever else she was planning to say.

" _Read the paper,_ " a low slap of paper on flesh was heard and someone sucked in a breath as Glynda turned her Scroll on speaker, eyes wide as Ozpin's narrowed.

" _H-H-Hey there G-Goodwitch-_ " The first person began shakily through their whimpers only to be cut off.

A loud _slap_ was heard and the one whimpering cried out. **"** _ **Read it**_ **right** _ **scumbag!**_ **"** The second, very angry voice demanded, its words slightly distorted.

" _H-Hey there B-Badbitch!_ " The voice quickly stammered out.

" _That's more like it, now keep going,_ " #2 commanded.

" _M-My name is Amend, a-a-and I just killed fifteen people-_ " #1 was cut off once more as Glynda's eyes snapped wide while Ozpin's hardened.

" _Wait it was fifteen? Could have sworn I wrote sixteen…_ " #2, now named Amend, asked and a few light slaps were heard. _"Okay buddy, I need to go double-check this, keep reading that paper while I'm gone, alright?"_ A confirmation was shaken out.

 _"I-I killed them because they were bad people w-who made horrible mistakes in their life,"_ #1 whimpered as muffled counting could be heard in the background. _"M-mistakes that they had to make amends for, a-a-and I wanted to call you to let you know t-that you and everyone on that shield m-my little birdie delivered is a bad person too,"_ #1 swallowed dryly as the Huntsmen looked to the shield in question. " _A-and that I hope you're all ready for pain, b-because when I finally get you I'm gonna… Oh gods…_ "

 _"Ok, he was right, it_ was _fifteen!"_ Amend declared brightly upon returning. "… _Why'd you stop?_ " The question almost sounded innocent before a slam was heard the #1 cried out. _**"Read it or I bite the other leg off!"**_ Amend sounded absolutely monstrous compared what they'd heard before.

 _"Because when I find you I'm gonna rip you apart and eat you alive!"_ #1 cried while the woman blanched and the Headmaster tensed, not believing what they were hearing. " _And then I'm gonna spit you up and feed you to my Grimm over and over again until all that's left is your mangled corpse full of blo-o-o-od-_ " #1 cried out the word. " _And_ vomit _! Oho gods this is horrible!_ " #1 sobbed to himself as Glynda covered her mouth, feeling nauseous.

" _You're not done yet,_ " Amend growled and #1 just struggled to recover and breathe.

 _"S-So please feel free to fatten yourself up with all that n-nice Huntress money you've got, a-and sleep in that comfy bed of yours, b-because I'm going to take my time working up an a-a-appetite hunting down_ a-all _the little appetizers l-like these guys!"_ #1 choked out the last bit and sobbed for a bit while Amend remained silent.

 _"Come on, last bit,"_ they growled, and the two Huntsmen could have sworn they heard more than one growl through the Scroll.

" _N-now please pardon me while I… f-feed my dogs?_ " #1's voice was confused as he read the last lines. " _T-they really like Ginger-OH OUM NO-_ " a sickening _rip_ came through the speaker followed by a meaty _thud_ , startling the two listening.

" _Alright babies, you've been patient enough!_ " Amend called out as Glynda struggled to hold back her stomach's contents. " _Dig in!_ " A chorus of easily recognizable howls sent a shiver down the spines of both Huntsmen while the killer roared with mad laughter. " _Enjoy that sound_ witch _, 'cause it'll be the last thing you ever hear!_ " It laughed before the call cut out with a _crunch_.

Glynda swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat as she stared at the Scroll. "S-Sir?" She didn't even care that she let the stutter through, she was absolutely horrified after what they'd just witnessed.

Ozpin's face was an unreadable mask as he responded. "Call the police _then_ set up the meeting, we need to know what we're dealing with," the woman nodded and quickly typed out the Vale PD's number as she walked to the elevator while the man stayed in stride silently, the gears of his mind turning as he clenched his fists around the sword and shield he carried.

Life was full of mistakes… and it seemed like one had come back to haunt them.

* * *

 _ **Hope you're interested in the first chapter, hoping to have the next one up by tomorrow. Updates will probably be done over the weekends since I work long hours during the weekdays.**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**-0- Location Jump**_

… _**Time Jump**_

* * *

 _"All students and faculty, both Beacon and otherwise, report to the auditorium immediately!"_ The intercom system blared loudly, startling everyone within Beacon with the urgency of Glynda's voice. _"There will be a safety briefing held shortly due to…_ recent events," that got everyone's attention and sent a wave of worry through the whole school.

"What do you think happened?" Yang wondered as she looked around the class while students began filing out as Port directed them, an anxious frown on his face that he did his best to hide. "Something with the students from the other kingdoms maybe?"

"No idea, but whatever it is it sounds serious," Blake answered with worry as she shut her book, briefly hoping her recently made friend Sun wasn't involved somehow. "We'd better hurry."

"Ruby, come on, we have to go," both girls turned to Weiss shaking their leader's shoulder gently as the little red reaper lay face first on the desk and a noticeable wince went through them at the sight.

 _"I'm up, I'm up,"_ the girl grumbled and sat up slowly, but her appearance did nothing to ease the worry of her team however and sent another wince through them when they saw the ugly bags under her eyes.

"Trouble sleeping last night?" Yang asked, sympathy practically leaking from her voice.

"Every night," Ruby answered with a small smile that didn't reach her eyes. "You know that."

"Ruby…" Weiss began but the red girl hopped to her feet before she could continue.

"Well come on then guys!" She stretched her body almost like she'd do normally, but the others noticed the obvious lack of enthusiasm in her movements. "It sounds like we've got something really important to talk about today, so let's go!" She skipped across the desks and made her way out the door while her team lingered, each of their eyes tinged with sadness and regret.

She'd been like that ever since the mission they'd taken with JNPR, the one that Jaune… didn't come back from. She acted like it was ok, like she was still the happy-go-lucky girl full of innocence, but anyone that bothered to look could see she'd been eaten alive by her thoughts ever since that day. Yang had never forgotten the look of utter _devastation_ in her sister's eyes when she had woken up in the infirmary and received the news that Jaune had disappeared, nor the one a week later when Ozpin declared he had no other choice but to announce his death, and seeing the result every single day ensured the older sister never would. This grim reminder of the most unforgivable mistake she'd ever made, or ever will make, whittled her down day by day and slowly consumed the once fun loving exterior she gave off as she watched her sister suffer.

"Come on," the fiery warrior got up solemnly as did the remainder of the team. "Let's go see what the big deal is," she vaulted over the decks and walked out the door after her sister, hoping she'd make it to the auditorium by herself ok. "Hopefully it gives me something to punch…"

-0-

Pyrrha Nikos and her team were not in the mood for human contact right now, so being forced to cram themselves into the auditorium had left the Spartan and her friends with understandable scowls on their faces and an aura that carved a wide berth out of the sea of students around them. One however didn't seem to care or notice this mood and bumped into the redheaded Spartan from behind then fell back with a startled yelp. The three members of JNPR glanced behind them angrily but it evaporated instantly into concern when they saw who'd run into them: Little Ruby Rose.

" _Ruby_! Are you alright?" One could have easily seen the old Pyrrha Nikos then and there as she knelt to help the reaper up, but it had become quite a rare sight within Beacon, reserved only for the closest of her friends which were few and far between.

"Oh hey guys," Ruby visibly brightened a bit as she took the help with a genuine smile. "How you doing?"

"Ok, all things considered," Pyrrha then sighed as the girl dusted herself off. "Someone badmouthed Jaune again today."

Ruby's hands stopped as she looked up slowly. " _What_?" Her eyes hardened. " _Who_?"

"Don't worry, I took care of them," Pyrrha scowl was mirrored by the three around her as the memories of the _others_ who'd made that same mistake passed through them. "Just another pathetic human being that couldn't take being rejected and then just _had_ to say something stupid to try and hurt me."

 _"Should have let me break his legs,"_ Nora growled, her knuckles white from how tight she clenched her fists as the group resumed their walk with their new addition.

"I'll let you have the next fool that says something Nora," Pyrrha promised, knowing without a doubt that someone else was bound to open their mouth before the month was even up, people just _loved_ disrespecting those that couldn't do anything to defend themselves.

The grenadier just grunted in response and scowled at someone who got too close with an almost animalistic growl, sending the poor student stumbling back with their hands up defensively. "Nora, that's enough," Ren placed a hand on her shoulder and the color slowly bled from her body as did her anger as the boy activated his Semblance. He hated what Jaune's death had done to all of them, but Nora's change had by far been the worst in his opinion. She'd become so much less active and yet she always seemed ready to lash out at the slightest provocation, it had taken everything he had to keep her calm as she stood ready to destroy anything that even remotely got on her nerves. "You're not going to break anyone's legs if someone says anything," he nodded to Pyrrha then. "We've got Pyrrha for that."

"But it isn't _fair_ ," the girl whined weakly in response as her color slowly returned. "I want to break those jerks too."

"But you can't do it without causing property damage," Ruby smirked a little while the bomber looked up in thought before giving a sigh, reluctantly conceding that fact. "So… what do you think this is about?" She asked, looking between the three as they finally entered the auditorium. "Did something happen with the festival?"

"No idea on specifics, but I've heard it has something to do with something hitting the Headmaster's tower," Ren shrugged as the others turned to him with interest. "Apparently, some students are saying they saw it ram into the tower then fly off," he looked around to make sure no one else could hear, afraid he could start a panic. "According to them it was a _Grimm_ ," the others blinked in surprise. "And it supposedly left something behind too."

"What was it?" Pyrrha wondered only to get a baffled shrug as they took a seat.

"Nobody knows for sure, or if it's even true," Ren shook his head. "I suppose we'll find out soon enough though," he stated and nodded to the platform where Ozpin stood while Glynda coordinated with teachers passing by the foot of the stage.

"Does he have something on his back?" Ruby asked with a frown and tried to shift herself to get a better view of the unknown object she saw peaking over the Headmaster's shoulder.

"It looks like it," Pyrrha nodded as she too attempted to see what it could be. "Is that what this mystery Grimm left? Why would it do that…" She pondered aloud until the sound of rumbling and a cough brought her attention to Glynda standing beside him, a microphone in her hand that she handed off to the man next to her as the light of the room dimmed.

"Hello everyone," he began then sighed. "I realize that this sudden meeting may be inconvenient for some of you, but please believe me when I say that this is of the upmost importance for all of your safety," a ripple of murmurs passed through the room until Ozpin raised a hand, silencing it. "Thank you, now I'm sure some of you have no doubt heard a rumor passing through the school about something ramming into my office window today," Another ripple went through and the man nodded, allowing it to happen. "And that this something was a Grimm…" the murmuring silenced as eyes collectively widened. "That is true," a mass of gasps rang through the auditorium as people wondered how that was even possible. "But a Grimm is not the only thing that hit my tower today," he began, capturing everyone's attention once more. "In fact the beast had been carrying it and had rammed itself into my window in order to plant it there," he continued as he reached for the object on his back while the whispering started up again.

Confusion passed through the auditorium as Ozpin took the filthy thing from his back but it all went quiet when he revealed what it was… all except for a single red reaper, who blinked as a horrifying weight suddenly hit her and those around her. " _… What_?"

There in his hands was Crocea Mors, sullied by whatever black mess it was that covered its once beautiful white face. "Today we had a weapon from one of our fallen, once thought lost forever, returned to us," Ozpin began as Ruby and the three around her began to tremble in their seats with a mass of emotions. "But not without an addition which has led to this briefing," Glynda hit a button on her Scroll and a close-up image of the shield and sword were displayed on the wall along with the words printed on them which sent another startled gasp through the students. "Earlier today, just minutes after we received this weapon, we also received a message from a man that had just murdered fifteen people and claimed responsibility for the delivery," Ruby barely heard it or the newest spike in horrified whispers as she reread the three lines of text repeatedly, not understanding why she was seeing what she did. "This killer then blatantly threatened members of our school and promised he'd be coming after wiping out Vale's criminal underworld before claiming a sixteenth life and ending the call."

"We've coordinated with the Vale police department on the matter but when they arrived to the scene he was nowhere to be found," Glynda stepped forward as the lights returned, a grim expression on her face as she spoke. "As such we are issuing an order that grants all students and faculty from each kingdom the right to carry their weaponry on them at all times, both on and off campus, until this situation is resolved," she instantly slammed her heel into the stage the second people had even begun to talk. "But do _not_ , even a second, believe this gives you the right to act irresponsibly," she glared over the room, cowing any that had even the slightest thought of going against the order. "You will use your weapons if and _only_ if you have no other choice, are we understood?" She got an adequate enough response from the room to satisfy her, even despite all the looks she was getting as people whispered her name. "Very well then, as of now classes are canceled for the week, everyone please return to your dorms in an orderly fashion and do your best to remain safe."

"Teams RWBY and JNPR, please report to my office," Ozpin spoke over the crowd as the students began leaving with a roar of confusion and fear while certain people in the vicinity gave passing glances at the four and no doubt the rest of RWBY wherever _they_ were. "I believe we have much to discuss…"

 _"That and more,"_ Pyrrha growled through a bit lip, her eyes never leaving the shield in his arms as they burned and watered.

Ruby shared that sentiment entirely as she looked through the crowd in an attempt to spot her team, her body trembling as she tried her best to understand why they were being targeted by a killer all of a sudden. "This can't be real…" she whimpered. "I-I can't lose more people! I-I can't-" a hand on her shoulder followed by the feeling of a soothing sensation passed through her as her words faded into a sigh.

"It's going to be alright Ruby, we'll figure this out," Ren promised, giving the girl's shoulder a supportive squeeze while Nora jumped to her feet.

"Yeah! Let's go! We need to hurry up and find out how that guy got Jaune's stuff!" She bounced in place, yet her face wasn't alight with excitement but rather pure fury as the others followed her to their feet. "I'm gonna rip his legs _off_ after what he did to it!" She snarled, and this time nobody in the group tried to calm her, they'd be hypocrites with no right to talk if they did.

 _"How could someone do this?"_ Pyrrha whispered, hate filled tears dripping out the corner of her eyes as they made their way towards the retreating form of Ozpin and Glynda. " _Hasn't he been through enough? Can't he just have peace for once?_ "

Could _any_ of them have peace?

…

Ozpin sat behind his desk, fingers steepled in front of him as he looked over the seven standing before him. "I'm sorry we have to be meeting under such unfortunate circumstances today," he began, noting the range of emotions passing through each student as their gaze remained locked on the sword and shield on his desk. "But seeing that you appear to be at the center of this we have little other choice."

"Who is this guy?" Yang growled, eyes tinted red and fists clenched. "What's he want with us?"

"We're not sure who he is yet, but as for what he wants…" Ozpin took a breath and sighed, barely believing he was saying it. "Your deaths, for whatever reason," his answer sent a shiver down their spines. "I was hoping one of you could have an inkling as to what that reason could be," his eyes turned to Ruby who was looking between her friends with an anxious stare. "Or why miss Rose is the only one among team RWBY that appears free from this killer's threat."

"Sir I assure you we have no idea," Weiss stepped forward, but even her normally confident stance appeared shaken. "We weren't very close to Arc, and… and that was especially true after the truth of his transcripts came out…" A momentary twitch went through her eyes, a look of guilt for words of the past as the gaze of team JNPR hardened. "But we _never_ did anything to harm him," she assured as NPR got a hold of their emotions. "Especially not alongside miss Goodwitch! We, and I'm positive that she, _never_ would."

"Yet for some reason this killer blames you four directly for whatever fate befell mister Arc," Ozpin frowned, pondering this. "Are you all _absolutely_ positive that you hadn't missed something in your reports from _that_ day?" You could _see_ the weight press down on the room as he asked the question. "Anything at all, no matter how small or insignificant? From either team?"

"We told you everything sir," Blake's eyes fell to the floor, and a look that matched Weiss' passed through her. "We failed Arc that night, but we would never go out of our way to _hurt_ him, to… to kill-" her face scrunched up with disgust as she found herself unable to continue.

Ozpin stared for a long while before letting out a sigh. "I hate to do this to you all, but we have to be sure of things," he flicked a switch and a screen popped up presenting something the students were not prepared for: A minimized image of Jaune Arc's goofy smiling face beside several columns listing various vitals. "I'm going to play the last record we have regarding mister Arc, the one gathered from the Scroll you recovered that night in the Emerald Forest, so that we can go over it for _anything_ we could have missed," he then turned to NPR who were looking at the image with longing. "You three were split up from him during the… _incident,_ and as such if you don't want to watch this, I understand completely."

Jaws tightened all around the room and Yang's eyes instantly went to Ruby who was shaking slightly. "Sis…" the little reaper chewed on her lip and refused to meet her sister's gaze as the older girl went to hold her. "You were out cold that night when it happened, there was nothing you could have seen so you don't have-"

The girl raised a hand and shook her head quickly, stopping Yang's advance. " _No!_ " She took a deep breath to steady herself. "I-I'll be fine," she hugged herself and didn't take her eyes off the screen. "I can deal with this, I _have_ to," she finally looked at her sister, determination in her eyes. "If it keeps me from losing anyone else I'll do _anything_ to help," Yang felt a pang go through her heart and she stepped back, feeling awful.

"And _we_ won't stop until we find the person who did this to Jaune's weapon," Pyrrha stepped forward, her tone allowing for no argument as her team nodded, equally resolved. "If it gives us any chance to find a clue, we'll do it."

Ozpin looked into each pair of eyes, each with their own doubts and fears bellow the surface before turning to Glynda who gave a stiff nod. "Very well," he hit a switch on the console and sat back as Jaune's vital signs began to adjust.

There were not at a healthy status when a video tab opened beside them and expanded to show a shaky view of a forest. " _Ok,_ " Pyrrha crossed her arms and held a fist to her mouth, eyes steeled at the sound of Jaune's voice while her friends went through similar reactions. " _You got this Jaune, you found it,_ " the boy stabilized his scroll and finally settled the shot onto what looked like a giant pool of black in the middle of a clearing. " _At least I hope you did…_ " He mumbled to himself nervously. " _I don't_ think _this is a tar-pit, seems kind of out of place,_ " he chuckled to himself as he got closer while everyone present searched every inch of the screen for something, _anything_. " _Gotta get as much of it as possible…_ " the Scroll's image distorted as it was flipped between hands and a wince went through all but Ozpin as it settled on the boy with the pool behind him before a twitch went through the image and the boy looked around as a branch snapped in the distance. " _This has_ got _to be enough right?_ " The boy mumbled anxiously before groaning. " _No… crap she said I had to bring back solid proof!_ " He stomped his foot on the ground while glancing behind him nervously. _"Oh I can already hear it: 'A_ real _Huntsmen would have brought back adequate evidence, not an amateur video,'_ " he said in a mocking version of Glynda's voice while the woman in question had turned to face the dimmed window, a hand over her mouth as she trembled slightly.

She was prepared for what happened next as another twitch suddenly passed through Jaune along with a confused frown. " _What the…_ " he looked down only for the Scroll's image to rapidly shift from being dropped as his feet were taken out from under him with a yelp. " _What the hell?! What's-GAH-WHY IS IT BURNING?!_ " Came his startled yell as the Scroll settled facing up into the night sky as the vitals beside the image steadily began ticking away. " _Oh no, no-no-no,_ " the others struggled to face the screen but kept their eyes on it, hoping to make it worth it. " _Nonononono! Stop sinking…_ "

Ozpin took the time to watch the reactions of the students around him as they listened to the desperate yelling and struggles the Headmaster had heard dozens of times before, and all he found was regret and shame among everyone present, aside from Ruby that is, no she was instead struggling to see due to the constant stream of tears she tried to blink away while biting her lip to the point of bleeding.

 _"Please just let me get out of this…"_ Jaune's voice began to fade out. _"Let me get out and fix this!"_ He screamed in frustration. " _I'm so close! I'M SO CLOSE TO GETTING THEM ALL BACK!_ " He cried and the sounds of struggling got dimmer and dimmer as the vitals continued to fall. " _Blake… Weiss… Yang… I was supposed to prove you and that whole school wrong damn it!_ " He laughed desperately to himself as the girls in question clenched their fists, their eyes misting over as they trembled in place. " _I-I was supposed to get to gloat! I was supposed to laugh it up and get punched in the stomach whenever Yang got pissed that I kept bringing this up!_ " His painfully cheerful voice was so difficult to make out but it was enough. _"I wasn't supposed to fail… I WASN'T SUPPOSED TO SCREW THIS UP TOO! I WASN'T SUP-_ burgh _!"_

A sound that Ozpin knew he'd never forget sounded through the office, the sound of a man coughing, gasping and then the ever-fading muffled screaming as they tried to get air until the sound ultimately vanished. The Headmaster had to admit he admired the dedication of the people before him as they continued to watch through tear-filled eyes even as Jaune's vitals flatlined, but it was dwarfed by his interest in the looks of utter despair in a certain three of the seven before him, they knew what was coming next.

" _Jaune_ …" A faint call in the distance echoed through the forest, Yang's to be exact. " _Come on man… I get it! You're angry about what happened with Ruby but don't go bleeding out on us!_ " It was getting louder, and slightly more urgent as her voice closed in.

" _Where are you?!"_ The slightly more panicked voice of Weiss echoed soon after. _"This isn't the time or place to be joking you dolt! I already have enough trouble carrying Ruby, I don't need you half dead too!_ "

" _Jaune?_ " Grass could be heard rustling close by, quickly followed by Blake's horrified: " _Oh no…_ " Before the Scroll was finally picked up and it settled on the face of shadow-user. " _GUYS?! I found his Scroll! It's over…_ " Her words cut out as the camera's view fell to a sideways shot of the forest beside the girl. " _What is that?_ "

" _Oh Oum, did he fall in there?!_ " Yang's hip appeared in the shot, her voice panicked. "JAUNE?!" She twirled on the spot as she called out. " _OK this is really starting to piss me off! You'd better come out right now!_ " She almost sounded like she was begging. " _This isn't funny!_ "

" _She's right Arc, stop messing around this instant!"_ Weiss called outside the shot, sounding equally afraid. " _Arc_? Jaune?! _We're sorry ok-_ " A rumbling cut her off as the Scroll's image began to shake and showed Yang backing away from the pool while Blake had to have been doing the same. " _What?_ "

" _What the hell is- OH CRAP!_ " Yang cocked her gauntlets and the sound of two shots went off. "BACK! BACK-BACK-BACK!" She yelled and fired off more shots as howls and roars began sounding off one after the other while Blake had to have turned and ran based on the display of the shot.

 _"Where are they all coming from?!"_ The ninja screamed as the image made out the distorted form of Weiss struggling to carry Ruby while running from the ever-growing sound of Grimm. " _Is there a tunnel under that pool or something?!_ " The sound of her own weapon went off as well as a near endless stream of shells from Yang's.

" _We'll find out later!_ " The blonde screamed back. " _Call the others! We need to get out of here_ now!"

" _But the noise will draw the Grimm right to them!"_ Weiss cried out. _"That's why we agreed on no calls until we got a signal-"_

" _There's no time!_ " Yang roared while firing. " _We've got a horde coming down on us and if we_ don't _call them they'll either get swarmed too or left behind!_ "

 _"But what about Jaune-"_ A vicious snarl followed by Blake's pained yelp echoed through the office as the image of the Scroll danced everywhere before going dark.

Ozpin let out a sigh as the students before him each gasped in a breath, finally aware that they had each stopped breathing at some point. "And that's it, that's the last thing we have before the recording app shut down and you all grouped up before returning," he spread his arms and gestured to three quarters of RWBY. "Care to fill in what happened afterwards, see if you remember anything different?"

"There…" Yang swallowed and swiped at her eye. "There was just a hell of a lot of Grimm chasing us."

"I got hit, but I was able to pick the Scroll up again to call JNPR," Blake continued, her eyes hard as she stared at the floor. "I told them to run for extraction because we had a horde of Grimm after us."

"We met up right as the transport was strafing the ground and then…" Weiss shook her head and gave a bewildered shrug. "There was a roar, something very loud let out a roar and the Grimm just _stopped_ chasing us right as we all jumped onboard and the pilot took back off, they never started moving again while we left..."

"And then you came back," Ozpin continued as the girls nodded. It had been the exact same story as before which JNPR had no way of denying, but the looks of shame and regret in the eyes of (R)WBY seemed so much more pronounced than it had the first time… they were hiding _something_ , but what? "We arranged a Search and Rescue, went to the exact coordinates of Jaune's last known position and found…" The image on screen shifted back to the forest. " _Nothing_ ," specifically a clearing deep within it where a large _empty_ pit lay at its center, no tunnel to be seen within it.

Glynda finally turned from the wall, her eyes noticeably redder as she took a calming breath. "We'd just like to say again how sorry we are," she managed to keep her tone level. "We promised you we'd find him, we told you to relax and just wait for us to bring him back…" Her eyes fell as everyone present did as well. "And instead we just wasted an entire week on nothing… _I'm sorry_ …"

"Whatever you found out there," Ozpin began again as the others gave conflicted but understanding looks to his assistant. "Whether it was some unknown type of Grimm capable of spawning them or something else entirely, it disappeared along with the entire horde you and the pilot assigned to you described," the Headmaster sighed. "Taking all traces of mister Arc with it… until now that is," all eyes drifted to the sword and shield on his desk.

It was quiet then for a good long while as everyone looked down upon the set with sadness. "Sir?" Before Pyrrha spoke up that is, and the man waved for her to speak. "If I may, do you still need his weapon?"

A genuine smile tugged at the corner of his mouth at the question. "We've already gotten all the forensic evidence to be found from it," he gently slid the weapon towards the edge of the desk. "As such we have no more need to keep it, you as his partner may do with it as you wish miss Nikos."

"T-Thank you sir," her hands hesitated, shaking in the air for a moment as she stepped towards the set before she felt someone's palm on each shoulder and she looked to both sides to see Ren and Nora, solemn smiles on their faces. She swallowed the lump in her throat then nodded to herself and picked up the weapon. "S-Sir? May we please be excused?"

"Of course," Ozpin nodded. "Thank you for coming today, I know this couldn't have been easy for you."

"It wasn't," the Spartan replied and turned around, but not before her gaze lingered on team RWBY for a moment, her stare hardening before she shook herself and managed to give a genuine smile to them. _"Thank you for trying,"_ she whispered and her team followed her out while the three girls she'd spoken to each felt like someone had punched them in the gut even after the elevator had shut and descended.

"… _Sir_ …" Yang finally managed to choke out. "May we be excused as well?" She glanced to her teammates. "Watching all of that again…" She shook her head. "I-I'm feeling a bit sick sir."

"I understand, you girls are dismissed as well, thank you for coming and giving your assistance," Ozpin gave them all a sympathetic look. "And please, try and stay safe while we do our best to handle this matter," he brought up a new tab on his screen while taking his attention off them. "I'd appreciate it if you kept from leaving the campus in general, there's been word that several White Fang members have spoken out recently, claiming to have been targeted by this ' _Amend,'_ so the streets may not be the safest place right now," a quick, unnoticeable glance up revealed the slight twitch that went through Blake as the team walked towards the elevator.

Glynda noticed it as well, but waited until the doors shut before speaking up. " _What was that just now Ozpin?"_ She asked sharply. "Why did you just bring that up out of the blue?"

Ozpin stared at the social-media feeds of one of the aforementioned White Fang supporters, fingers steepled once again as a buzz went off in his pocket. "A risk Glynda," he replied as he pulled out his Scroll. " _OnCat'sTail,_ " he read the jumbled text to himself. "One that I hope pays off…"

"And if it _doesn't_?" The Huntress almost snapped. "Don't you think they've earned a rest after all this today?"

Ozpin glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "They need to learn at some point Glynda," she bristled at the response. "Sometimes life doesn't allow us to rest."

" _Unbelievable_ ," Glynda stormed past his desk towards the elevator before turning back to give him a scathing look. "I hope you're not making another mistake Ozpin, we've made far too many recently!" And with that she stormed off.

He prayed for the exact same thing.

* * *

 _ **Alrighty, Chapter-Two down, hope it's enough to keep you all interested until next weekend. I'll see if I can't get some work done on this story if I get some free time during the week, but I'll definitely do my best to have something out by at least**_ _ **6/18/17.**_

 _ **See you then hopefully.**_


	3. Chapter 3

RWBY's dorm room was not a happy place, anyone with eyes could see that if they walked in and saw each girl on their bunk at this moment. Ruby lay prone on hers, face buried in the pillow she held in a deathly tight grip as her shoulders shook ever so slightly. Yang sat red-eyed and fuming atop hers, fists clenching and releasing repeatedly as she resisted the urge to punch the first thing presented to her. Weiss lay silently atop her bed, trying her hardest to regain some semblance of composure only to fail each time and fall into a trembling fit as she fought against oncoming guilty tears. The only one that seemed even remotely in their right mind at that moment was Blake who lay staring up into her Scroll, but as her increasingly anxious expression could attest to _something_ from that meeting had been getting to her.

 _"I'm gonna kill him,"_ Yang growled through grit teeth as her eyes drifted to her sister. "I'm going to find this psycho, beat him into next month, drag him back then rip his damn head off!" How dare he do this to her sister?

"And just _how_ do you plan to do that?" Weiss asked with some snap. "The police couldn't find him and the Headmaster hasn't been able to either, how do _you_ expect to?" She needed something to vent on, and unfortunately Yang's outspoken anger was the only outlet she saw available at the moment.

"Go hunting, how else?" Yang snapped back with a glare. "This freak is going after criminals, right? Well, guess who has a criminal informant whipped and ready to talk whenever they want?" She thumbed her chest. "Give me five minutes with him and we'll get something to go off, I'm positive," she wasn't, but she was too upset to even think about that right now.

"But even if this criminal you somehow know even has the slightest clue about where this murderer is, what then? What will you do _if_ you find him?" Weiss mirrored the look given to her. "We don't know the first thing about this man who can apparently control _Grimm_!"

"Which is exactly _why_ we should go and find out so we can kick his ass!" Yang yelled. "Come on Weiss! We've beaten all kinds of crazy stuff before! Ruby _and_ Blake fought a _crime-boss_ and sent him running, hell Ruby did it _twice_ for Oum's sake!" She pointed at the two in question who both tensed slightly. " _You_ beat a giant suit of armor just to get here!" She jabbed the finger at the heiress. "We even beat a giant Nevermore _and_ a Deathstalker at the same time! What's some random psychopath with a freak-show of Grimm compared to all that?!"

" _We_ didn't beat that Death-Stalker!" Weiss yelled back, red in the face. "That was taken out by Jaune's-" the words died on her lips as they fell open, a flash of stunned horror passing through her face before she shut her mouth tightly, but the damage was already done.

Yang's anger burned away as she fell back onto her bunk, her lips forming a thin line as she stared at the Schnee numbly. _"And whose weapon got turned into this psycho's twisted death threat?"_ She whispered, earning a flinch from everyone in the room as well as forcing Blake's horrified eyes away from her Scroll. "Who do we owe it to, to find this freak and put him down for putting that _garbage_ on his stuff?"

Weiss clutched the edge of her bed tightly as her eyes fell to the floor. _"That's not fair…"_ She croaked. "We couldn't have known that would happen-"

"But it did," Yang cut her off sharply. "We messed up that day and because of it Jaune-" she winced but bit it back. "-because of it Jaune is _gone_! And now the only thing that's left of him got turned into a damn horror show!" Her shoulders shook as her nails dug into her bedcover. "And here we are sitting around doing nothing about it-"

" _Yang_!" The blonde flinched at the sound of her sister who finally sat up. " _Stop it,_ " the reaper snapped, her raw eyes still leaking tears. "Weiss is right, that was too far! You can't just use Jaune as an excuse because you're _angry_!" Her sister flinched and almost seemed to shrink under the reaper's stare. "It's not fair to her or _any_ of us! And… _and_ …" It was as if all the tension and anger in the young girl disappeared as her gaze slowly fell, making her look absolutely numb… _"And_ you _aren't wrong either…"_ she whispered, followed by a sad chuckle as she reached up and swiped at one of her eyes while her team faced her. "You know it's… it's kind of funny, this is the first time we've said his name since that day."

It felt like a boulder was dropped in Weiss' stomach as she looked at her partner. "Ruby-"

"We didn't say it all this time, we pretty much just hid it, tried not to think about it; Arc this and Arc that," Ruby sniffed a bit, the broken smile never leaving her face. "Pyrrha and the others were so much stronger when it was their own teammate, while we just tried our best not to say it," she looked around the room at the other girls that failed to meet her gaze. "Jaune is dead, because we weren't good enough to save him," a tremor of horrifying guilt and shame passed through her teammates at that statement, the reaper had no idea just how much she was tearing them apart by saying it. "And because of that now the only thing anyone has left of him got _ruined_ ," her gaze hardened along with her fists. "And the same _monster_ that did it is threatening more people I care about," the fury was coming back but with it came a firm resolve as she looked over her team. "We _do_ owe it to Jaune to find this murderer who ruined his weapon, but not just because we let him down that day!"

"You _didn't let him down,_ " thought each shame-ridden girl separately as they looked at their trembling leader.

"We owe it to him because he's our _friend_!" She punched her bed, one final tear falling from her eye. "And nobody hurts my friends without dealing with me!" Her shoulders shook as she heaved in breath after breath, her face flushed as she tried to calm down. "So I'm going to do something about it and make that killer pay!" Only one question remained though. "… How do we start?" She turned to Yang whose mouth fell open with no words.

"I- We-" she looked like a deer in headlights before her shoulders slumped numbly. " _I don't know,_ " she choked out, feeling absolutely _awful_. "I… I don't even know if Junior _has_ anything," she looked to Weiss but the heiress lifted a hand before she could say a word while offering an ever so small nod, she understood.

Blake appeared conflicted for a moment as her partner's lips curved up a bit before taking a deep breath to steady herself. "I might have something actually," she spoke up, raising her Scroll and catching everyone's attention. "Professor Ozpin brought up something about this killer targeting the White Fang and I couldn't help but look into it," she tapped a few commands into her device and the rest of RWBY's buzzed in each girl's pocket. "I just sent you a link to one of the White Fang's forums where recruiters and followers talk and leave codes to find rally sites," her stare hardened a bit as her teammates opened it. "And _he_ made a post on one of them."

Yang was the first to comment the moment the forum opened on her device with the killer's post highlighted. " _XxXTallDark+GrimmsomeXxX_?" She practically snarled, eyes flaring. "Is this a freaking _joke_ to him?"

"He's insane Yang," Weiss pointed out, putting a scowl on the blonde's face as they all began reading.

### _XxXTallDark+GrimmsomeXxX_ : **Howdy Terrorists and racists! How are we doing today?**

 _FangPreacher13_ : **Oh look, another ignorant human comes to show off the flaws of its species.**

 _WarriorOfClaws69_ : **Gotta love when trolls try to come and pollute a perfectly good forum**

### _XxXTallDark+GrimmsomeXxX_ : **Oh I'm not a troll little guy, I believe the term you're looking for is homicidal maniac!**

 _FangPreacher13_ : **Of course it is, you're certainly not just some no name human wanting to spit on the White Fang's great name for "fun."**

### _XxXTallDark+GrimmsomeXxX_ : **Well I'd sure hope I wasn't something like that, that'd say a lot about Vale as a whole if no one had heard the name** _ **"Amend" or knew what I wanted after that stunt I pulled today.**_

After just this single post the forum practically exploded, _dozens_ of posts filled the screen and RWY had to scroll for a good minute before they finally found another comment by the killer that Blake had highlighted.

### _XxXTallDark+GrimmsomeXxX_ : **Well that sure is a lot better, feels good being recognized so much for such recent work!**

 _FaunusPriest1234_ : **yeah right as if you were realy evn him**

### _XxXTallDark+GrimmsomeXxX_ : **I mean if you really want me to prove it, I was planning on showing up to one of your little get togethers tonight anyway.**

 _FangPreacher13_ : **Then please by all means do so! We'd love to put down another rabid human for the good of the world**

 _WarriorOfClaws69_ : **If this stupid troll can even find the rally that is**

### _XxXTallDark+GrimmsomeXxX_ : **Oh don't worry about me finding it my friendly little racists! I got my ways…**

 _XXX42Faunus69XXX_ : **PLEASE! THE ONLY RACISTS HERE ARE YOU SCUMBAG HUMANS! YOU CANT GO A DAY WITHOUT ATACKING INOCENT FAUNUS!**

### _XxXTallDark+GrimmsomeXxX_ : **Wow you mad bro?**

 _XXX42Faunus69XXX_ : **STFU RACIST** _ **XXXX XXXX**_ **YOUR NOTHING BUT STUPID HUMAN** _ **XXXX YOURE NOTHING!**_

### _XxXTallDark+GrimmsomeXxX_ : **Really now? Say what's your name big guy? I think I'll keep a look out for you when I show up.**

 _XXX42Faunus69XXX_ : **ITS OXFORD YOU LITTLE** _ **XXXX**_ **AND YOUR NOT DOING ANYTHING CAUSE YOU JUST A WEEK LITTLE** _ **XXXX**_

### _XxXTallDark+GrimmsomeXxX_ : **At least I can spell and use proper grammar ;3**

XXX42Faunus69XXX: **XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX**

### _XxXTallDark+GrimmsomeXxX_ : **lol, stay mad big boy! And that goes for all of you hypocrites out there! It'll make my job** _ **that**_ **much easier!**

### _XxXTallDark+GrimmsomeXxX_ : _(Signed Off)_

"What is _wrong_ with this guy?" Yang fumed as she set the Scroll down. "Is his entire existence made to just piss people off?"

"I'm pretty sure he's just manipulating them so his Grimm can track them easier," Blake scowled as she shut her own off. "An entire rally full of angry and scared Faunus that hate humanity would basically have a neon sign right over them for any Grimm looking."

"And this rally, you know where it is?" Weiss asked, closing her device with disgust. "And you're positive they wouldn't move it after something like this?"

Blake nodded her head confidently. "I know all the White Fang's little codes and tricks so I'm positive I know the site, and most of these new members seem too proud of themselves to realize moving would be a safer idea."

"Ok, so we know where this rally is going to be," Ruby stared at her screen, at all the hate-filled words filling up its entirety as all these Faunus practically chanted for this murderer's painful death, she shivered at how just a few words could spark such a response. "But how do we even get near it so we could get this guy? They'd at least guard it better after this, right?" She asked the shadow-user.

"They're at least smart enough for that," Blake conceded. "But I have a plan for that too, I can go in undercover-" at the sight of her team sucking in a breath she quickly continued. "With Sun while all of you surround the building quietly and wait for my signal the second this man shows up!"

"Blake," Yang didn't like the idea one bit. "Look I get it, your new boyfriend is decent in a fight, but who knows how many of these people are going to be there?" She cautioned while the ninja flushed ever so slightly. "And Weiss _was_ right, we really don't know anything about this guy…"

" _Trust me_ , I know we can pull this off," Blake pushed, almost pleading with her team. " _You_ were right too! We've handled so many things before this that no one else could have ever thought of," still seeing doubt she kept going. "We had no idea what to expect _those_ times either!"

The three stared at their teammate in silence for a long while as they considered it before Ruby finally spoke up. "Blake," she began, staring into the Faunus' eyes with undisguised worry. "Tell me the truth right now," she practically _commanded_ it. "Can you do this? Are you _sure_?"

"Yes," Blake nodded, meeting the stare with her own determined eyes. "If it means putting an end to this nightmare before it can get any worse, I will do _anything_."

"While staying _safe_?" Ruby added and the hardening of her gaze cut off the retort Blake wanted to respond with.

She shrunk ever so slightly under the stare. "… Yes," came her cowed answer. "I won't do anything that'll threaten my, or any of our lives," her lip quirked up slightly. "Any more than usual that is."

Yang actually managed a snicker at that while the other two brightened ever so little. "We really do get in trouble a lot, don't we?" She asked while her sister hopped off her bed.

"But we always come out on top," Ruby added, then held her arms out. "We're doing this," the other girls followed suit and wrapped the small girl in a hug, even Weiss couldn't help joining in as the little reaper held them all tightly. "We're going to get this guy and make this right, for Jaune."

She didn't notice the tension that went through the other girls as they looked at each other from around her body, their eyes full of shame that hardened into an almost unhealthy resolve. _"For Jaune,"_ the poor girl had no idea just how much her team wanted to put this all behind them…

-0-

Pyrrha had a perplexed expression on her face when team RWBY almost knocked her over as they came out their dorm room. "Ruby? What's going on?" She was surprised to see them out and looking so _motivated_ , even Blake seemed full of energy as she typed away at her Scroll, she hadn't seen them like this in what felt like ages…

The little reaper smiled brightly at her friend. "Don't worry about it Pyrrha, we're just going to go take care of some personal business."

The Spartan frowned a bit at the vague response. "Anything I or my team can help with?"

"Nah we got this," Yang stepped up with a confident grin and a thumbs-up. "It's nothing we can't handle on our own."

"Alright…" She briefly pondered what could be going on, but decided to let them have their privacy. "Well good luck then, feel free to ask for any of us if you need help," she offered a smile before it faltered a bit as she resumed walking.

"Is something wrong?" Weiss wondered as they followed the girl to the exit. "You seem… _stressed_."

Pyrrha smirked humorlessly. "That's one way of describing it I suppose," she sighed deeply. "I'm going to go call Jaune's family."

Team RWBY collectively tripped. "W-what?" Their leader stammered slightly.

"Ozpin gave _me_ the right to decide what happens to his weapon," her fists clenched slightly. "But that isn't fair to _them_ , they have more right than I _ever_ will to decide what should happen," the girls around her seemed to deflate ever so slightly before shaking it off.

"Aren't Ren and Nora going with you?" Blake wondered, seeing that they weren't anywhere to be seen.

Pyrrha shook her head. "No, they're back in our dorm, trying to get that…" she honestly had no way of describing it. " _Substance_ off Jaune's weapon," she caught a brief flash through each girl as the resolve they exuded seemed to intensify, but again decided not to ask about it, they'd tell her if they wanted to.

"Well, good luck then," Ruby then surprised her by wrapping her in a gentle hug before letting go and waving to her team. "Come on, let's go set up, mission start!" She cheered and Pyrrha could have sworn for a moment she saw a flicker of the old girl's spirit coming back.

It brought a smile to her face and the faces of the reaper's team as the nearly charged past her through the doorway ahead. It was good to see them finally acting like their old selves, even if only a little bit, maybe it meant there _was_ some hope for them all to move on and find some semblance of peace. Pyrrha could only hope that would be the case as she made her way out the dorms and continued her trek towards the CCT tower while a spec of anxiety began to grow with each step. It wasn't exactly easy, imagining speaking to the family of your dead partner, the one you weren't there for when he needed you most-

" _Stop it,_ " Pyrrha shook that line of thinking from her head and pushed herself to move faster, hoping to get there before it started up again. _"Jaune's death was_ not _your fault,"_ no matter how much she wanted to blame herself for it.

It was just an unfortunate and _unfair_ turn of events that had robbed her of the most sincere and heartfelt person she'd ever met, she _couldn't_ blame herself for that. Besides, she needed to be strong for the sake of her remaining team as well, Jaune's loss had affected them just as much if not _more_ than it had the Spartan. The two had obviously experienced the loss of something beloved before and this seemed to have set something off in them. Nora's newfound aggression and bitterness made Pyrrha's heart ache almost as much as the look of pain on Ren's face whenever he saw her act that way and had to put a stop to it. They needed her to be strong so she could hopefully one day bring them _all_ back into a happy light like Jaune had once done, and she would do anything to be there for them.

Pyrrha's gaze drifted up as she closed in on the tower, noting the sky's tint shift ever so slightly with each step, it would be night soon. " _I hope this won't be inconvenient for them,_ " she thought briefly of Jaune's family and prayed she didn't call late enough to be a bother.

The elevator at the base of the tower opened and Pyrrha already had her Scroll ready. " _Hello welcome to the CCT, how may we help you?_ " The elevator's console asked cheerfully.

"Communication level please," Pyrrha held her Scroll over the console as she answered.

 _"Absolutely, please place your Scroll against the console to verify your identity-,"_ not even a second passed as the already presented device was scanned. _"-Perfect! Thank you miss Nikos,"_ the elevator lurched ever so slightly and began its ascent as Pyrrha rested against the back wall, preparing herself.

There was not enough time in her opinion as the elevator quickly slowed and came to a stop before _pinging_ open. " _Hello, welcome to the CCT, how may I assist you today?_ " Came the ever-cheerful voice of the floor's holographic assistant as the Spartan entered the floor.

"I'd like to make a call to the Arc family… _regarding their son,_ " Pyrrha answered and the image before her gave a sympathetic smile.

" _My condolences ma'am,"_ Pyrrha really was impressed at times by how genuine the hologram was programmed to sound. _"Please go to Console thirteen and we should have you connected shortly._ "

Pyrrha nodded and made her way towards the machine, passing dozens of happy callers talking with loved ones and friends and she couldn't help but envy them for how easy they all had it. " _Ok Pyrrha, you can do this,_ " she tried to prepare herself as she sat down while the console connected, readying herself to face either a parent or sibling of her fallen teammate…

She was not expecting to see nothing but a line at the center of the screen however. " _Hello?_ " Pyrrha shivered slightly as the line splintered into a waveform of a woman's soft voice.

She swallowed and took a shaky breath. "Um… H-Hello, is this the Arc household?" She asked dumbly, not knowing what else to do.

" _This is, may I ask who's calling?_ " Came the polite response.

Pyrrha took a moment and steeled herself to get it out right then and there. "My name is Pyrrha, and I needed to talk to you-"

" _Pyrrha?_ " The woman on the other end cut her off with a curious tone. " _Pyrrha Nikos? As in my son's partner from Beacon?_ "

The Spartan felt like she was standing on a crumbling cliff with no Aura as Jaune's _mother_ asked the question, all the confidence she had hoped to build instead fading away. " _Y-Yes…_ " She squeaked out, eyes shut tightly as she prepared for a horrible reaction.

" _Well hell-_ o _there Pyrrha! I was hoping I'd get to speak to you at some point!_ " Pyrrha's eyes snapped open in momentary disbelief, had she heard right or did Jaune's mother sound… _happy? "It's nice to finally talk with someone that my son spoke so highly of!"_

"Ma'am?" Pyrrha responded with a frown. "Aren't… Aren't you upset to be speaking to me? A-At all?" How couldn't she be?

" _Why would I feel that way?_ " Came the confused response. " _Have you done something to make me not like you?_ "

"You- I- Your son-" Pyrrha stammered, not knowing how to respond. "… M-My partner, _your_ son, _died_ while we were on a mission together! I wasn't able to help him-"

" _You couldn't have if what I'd heard was right,_ " the woman still sounded confused without the slightest bit of pain in her voice and that just baffled Pyrrha to no end. " _How is that your fault?_ "

Pyrrha didn't know what to say. "It's-It's not but-"

" _But nothing, you just said it yourself,_ " the woman cut her off sternly. " _Jaune was_ not _your fault, so don't go thinking any of us blame you or Beacon for what happened,_ " she chastised. " _We blame the Grimm that took another innocent Huntsman from the world before his time._ "

Pyrrha couldn't believe it… Just like that? This woman could say it so easily? _"How can you not be angry?"_ She croaked out, confused beyond words. "He was your only son and… and now he's _gone_ ," how could this woman not blame _anyone_ for his death despite having every right to?

A sigh came through the connection. " _Pyrrha, do you know how much we loved our son?_ " The girl felt like she was hit with a Bullhead by the question. " _Do you have any idea just how much we wanted him to be happy?"_ The Spartan could only imagine. " _He wanted to go out and be a hero just like his ancestors, he wanted to risk his life for the betterment of others, he wanted to be a Huntsman more than_ anything _in the world,_ " she continued and Pyrrha could hear a pang of sadness in the woman's voice. " _He followed that dream knowing full well that it could cost him his life but he didn't care about that, he just wanted to help people,_ " Pyrrha's jaw tightened and she nodded to herself, that was Jaune to a T. " _We worried for him, Oum knows we did, but we trusted him too and we were_ proud _to see him make a decision and follow it._ "

"Even after everything?" Pyrrha asked lightly.

" _Even after we found out about his Transcripts, even after we found out about his death, we_ still _accepted his decision,_ " a little chuckle left Jaune's mother then. " _And given the choice? We'd do it all again,_ " she said, stunning the Spartan. " _Because he gave his word that he'd fight to do what's right, and even though he made mistakes along the way, even though he fell in the end he_ kept _that word, like a true Arc,_ " she was silent then for some time while Pyrrha digested this. " _We would give anything to have our son back, but we would_ never _keep him from following his dreams no matter what happened to him,_ " a _tap_ went through the connection, startling Pyrrha as it accented the woman's word. " _And we would never hate others just for living while he died,_ " the Spartan felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders at that, Jaune's family didn't hate her… " _And now that_ that's _out of the way,_ " the woman's sincerely cheerful tone was back with a vengeance. " _What was it that you wanted to talk about?_ " She asked curiously. " _Or was calling a family you thought hated you all you planned on doing?_ " She asked jovially.

Pyrrha's lip quivered up ever so slightly, but then fell with a sigh. "We… we have Jaune's weapon, it was sent to the school today…" she braced herself once more.

" _… And?_ " And once more she was stunned by the laid-back response she got. " _Was there some new development with this murderer or-_ " the woman's breath caught as Pyrrha just gaped at her screen. " _Wait, you didn't… Oh that_ little _-_ " She heard a muffled snarl from the other end. " _Oh I swear if I ever see that mug sipper again I'm going to slap him through a wall!_ "

"Ma'am you-you _knew_?" She was dumbfounded by this.

" _Of_ course _we knew, Ozpin may be a slime ball but he isn't a monster,_ " a mix between a tired sigh and a groan came through. " _I am_ so _sorry about this Pyrrha, you'll learn eventually that your Headmaster is a self-assured ass who just_ loves _playing with people even when he's trying to help them,_ " she growled. " _I can already figure out his game after that first bit where you were too terrified to even talk to me, so let me make this as absolutely clear as possible,_ " she took a deep breath. "Jaune. Was. Not. Your. Fault _,_ " she accented each word with a _tap_ to the screen. " _And he wouldn't want you, or_ anyone _, to beat themselves up over his death because they feel like they're responsible,_ understand _?_ " She asked sharply.

"Y-Yes ma'am," Pyrrha stammered out quickly, scared by the mere _thought_ of disagreeing despite the warmth that began to bloom in her chest, this woman was so… so _sincere_ , it was like talking to Jaune plus extra.

" _Good,_ " Jaune's mother said with satisfaction. " _So then, what did you want to say about Jaune's weapon?_ "

"Well ma'am," a small smile tugged at her lips from the woman's antics. "I was wondering what exactly you wanted to do with it," she answered as her smile faltered slightly. "Professor Ozpin gave it to me and said to do what I wanted with it but _you're_ Jaune's family, the sword is yours, so I thought you of all people should have the right to decide."

" _Well I would think it was obvious what we had already decided when Ozpin gave it to you-"_ another groan went through. " _But you didn't know about our choice either,_ of course!" Jaune's mother growled, muttering something about the family hearing about this under her breath. " _Excuse me just one second Pyrrha, I think I have something that should help make myself perfectly clear on this topic,_ " fading footsteps could be heard and Pyrrha briefly wondered what the woman could be getting while also trying to understand what she had said before going. " _Kind,_ " came a muffled remark. " _Dependable,_ " came another, more clear as footsteps could be heard as well as the shifting of paper. " _The kind of person that accepts someone's flaws and helps them overcome them,_ " Pyrrha frowned as Jaune's mother once again spoke clearly through the screen. " _These are the things my son said while describing you in his letters home, from what we could see he thought very much of you._ "

The Spartan flushed a bit at the praise, Jaune had said those things? "Why… why are you telling me this ma'am?"

" _Let me tell you a little bit about Crocea Mors Pyrrha,_ " Jaune's mother began as the girl listened intently. _"That weapon has been a part of the Arc family for a very long time, it has served a number of heroes and warriors reliably throughout the years and has been passed down parent to child for generations based solely on trust in the individual chosen,"_ a sigh came through, much to Pyrrha's worry. " _That tradition however, died along with my son,_ " the girl winced at the statement. " _But based on the passionate way he described you, in such vivid detail I might add, makes me think that he saw you as if you were family,_ " a small chuckle followed that. " _Maybe even a little more if he ever wised up…_ " The woman teased while Pyrrha's cheeks darkened ever so slightly, her back going ramrod straight. " _And in my opinion, no one else deserves the right to decide what to do with his weapon better than his friend and partner who accepted him,_ believed _in him and_ helped _him despite all his flaws._ "

"So… Crocea Mors…" Pyrrha began to shake a bit, finally understanding.

" _It's yours,_ " Jaune's mother finished. " _We decided that long before you called, and_ nothing _is going to change our minds,_ " Pyrrha could practically _feel_ the smile on the woman's face as she spoke. _"Just promise us that you'll use it to the best of your ability, use his memory to guide you into becoming a hero like he always dreamed of being, and we'll be happy."_

"I promise," Pyrrha nodded, her face the picture of determination. "I'll be sure to become someone he could be proud of calling his partner," she vowed.

" _Good girl,_ " the woman answered proudly. " _But really, you already are, I've got the proof right here,_ " the sound of paper shaking put a smile on the girl's face even as her eyes brimmed with small tears from the heartfelt compliment. " _Just make sure you keep being that person, and know that he'd be happy with whatever decisions you make from here on out._ "

"Y-Yes ma'am," Pyrrha nodded once more, wiping the tears from her eyes as she smiled brightly. "I won't let you down, you have my word," she got a satisfied noise in response and with that the connection ended.

Pyrrha fell back into her seat and palmed at her eyes with a sign of utter _relief_ , the smile never leaving her face even as she got up and went towards the elevator, a newfound pep in her stride as the words of Jaune's mother settled into her core. Jaune's family didn't hate her, Jaune's family didn't _blame_ her even a bit, Jaune's family believed she was worthy enough to decide what was to be done with the last memento they had of their son and she would be damned if she disappointed them. She began her descent down the elevator with a newfound resolve in her heart, a plan already forming for what she could do with the last piece of Jaune she had in her possession, but first… She had to do something about what had been done to it, she wasn't going to rest until she had freed Crocea Mors of that which defiled its beautiful sword and shield and returned it to its former glory.

That was a Nikos promise.

-0-

You'd think all the planning on the way would have prepared them better, but team RWBY and the additions of Sun and Neptune could honestly say they were nervous as the two Faunus of the group donned a pair of White Fang masks and left towards the empty warehouse Blake had located. _"I don't like this,"_ Yang mumbled while pacing. "We should just get in there and take them all down before that freak gets here, _trap_ him!"

"Yang," Weiss began, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Do you honestly think we could knock out an entire warehouse full of an unknown number of criminals armed with who knows what _without_ making enough noise to let _Beacon_ know we're here?"

 _"I bet we could pull it off,"_ the brawler's cheeks puffed out. "Don't you blueberry?" She asked Neptune who was staring over Ruby's shoulder at the rally site to see the distant forms of Blake and Sun entering.

"Not touching that," he answered without moving his stare. "I lose no matter what I say."

"He's smart," the reaper quipped as she gazed through _Crescent Rose's_ scope, scanning over each of the guards that surrounded the building from various positions, weapons in hand.

"Oh come on," Yang pressed, lightly tapping his shoulder with a fist. "I'm sure with all six of us we could take that place out in no time, probably barehanded," she chuckled and grinned.

"Maybe," Neptune shrugged. "Maybe not, like I said, _not touching that,_ " he repeated, earning a pout.

"You guys are no fun," she huffed, fists on her hips as she took up a position on her sister's other side. "So… anything?"

Ruby shook her head, switching her sightline once again. "Nothing yet," the disappointment and worry in her voice were apparent. "You… you think he was lying?" She wondered.

Weiss shook her head. "This man has already proven he can kill over a dozen people single-handedly," she began, making the blue haired boy with them turn a bit green. "And with whatever Grimm he somehow has on his side he is a very dangerous person who has shown himself to be extremely arrogant," she scowled at the thought of Amend's words on that forum. "He said he'd be here, and so he'll be here, that's the kind of over-confident psychopath he appears to be at least."

"Well he better show up soon," Yang growled, cracking her knuckles as a slight frown crossed Ruby's face as the small girl caught something in her scope. "I can't wait to shove Ember Cecelia down that crazy throat and-"

" _Guys_!" Came Ruby's hushed whisper, shutting her sister up and catching everyone's attention. _"Somebody is coming! And they're not wearing a mask!"_ She focused her sights on the approaching form of what appeared to be either a thin man… or a _teenager_ about their age in an ink-black hoodie that covered their face. It was mostly featureless other than its almost slime-covered appearance and its… " _Is that a Pumpkin-Pete logo?_ " The girl asked incredulously as she took in the sight of the glowing neon-blue mascot printed on the chest of the clothing.

"What?" Neptune voiced the other's confusion as he squinted, trying to see but failing to make out any more than a tiny bit of black of blue approaching the warehouse entrance.

"Is that him?" Weiss asked, getting a baffled shrug from Ruby as the girl watched the mystery character walk up to the massive bull-horned Faunus guarding the entrance.

 _"I don't know! I can't tell!"_ she answered in a slight panic, hating being put on the spot all of a sudden. " _He doesn't look like a Faunus,_ " she began and the bouncer then shoving the person away with a fit of incoherent yelling all but confirmed that theory. " _They look like they're fighting-_ " she caught a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye and adjusted her scope. " _Wait a minute, something's-_ " she let out a startled gasp when her sight focused just in time to see a guard watching the exchange curiously from the roof of a nearby building have half their body engulfed by the black half of a King Taijitu. " _Grimm!_ " She hissed fearfully as the others got to their feet, noticing something awful each on their own.

"And they have friends," Neptune pointed out nervously as similar things happened to all the guards surrounding the building.

The one on top of the warehouse who noticed the snake-Grimm eat their comrade had raised their weapon to take aim at the beast only to miss the pounding paws coming up behind it followed by the jaws of a Beowolf locking around their head as they were tackled. Two others who had been circling the building around its left side heard the commotion but then failed to notice the other Beowolf looming over them from above even as it dropped down, its claws splayed open. Ruby looked away just in time to miss the sickening sight of the beast landing on top of the two men, its unnaturally long claws impaling through their skulls and pinning them into the floor with a _thud_.

The whole area then seemed to go deathly quiet as the Grimm finished off their prey before they began to patrol on their own, circling the edge of the building while the bouncer remained completely oblivious as they yelled a string of profanity at the mystery in front of them loud enough for the group to hear. " _Stupid little fucking human, you bastards make me absolutely sick!_ " He screamed into the person's face only to get a tilt of the head in response then a muffled question. " _Yeah my name is Oxford, what the fuck is it to you?! You gonna say you're that pussy Amend you fucking piece of-_ " the group collectively lurched as one when the behemoth of a Faunus was picked up and pinned _above_ the door to the warehouse by a jet-black arm far too unnaturally long for a human or a Semblance to accomplish while the stranger began nodding their head.

 _"Oh my gods,"_ Weiss covered her mouth as Amend's other arm raised above his head then began to stretch much like the other, his hand expanding wide until the palm was the size of the now struggling Faunus' head. _"He… H-He can't just control Grimm…"_ She whispered as Amend trembled in place in what they could only see as sickening laughter.

 _"He is one!"_ Ruby finished with horror as the monster's hand suddenly shoved forward and crushed the bull's head against the wall of the warehouse in a splatter blood, bone and gray-matter that made all present struggle to keep from emptying their stomachs. Ruby's eyes then widened as Amend tossed the corpse to the side while his arms returned to normal size before he took hold of the warehouse door and entered casually. " _And he's in there with our friends!_ " She screamed with horror that only grew when every one of the Grimm surrounding the building turned in unison to face their position. " _No…_ " she hissed, loading a bullet into her rifle. " _NOBODY ELSE!_ " She roared as her friends all drew their weapons the moment the beasts began their charge.

* * *

 _ **Ok, there we go with number three, hope it keeps your interest until the next one. I'll see if I can't manage to knock out number four over the weekend. Get ready to finally get some stuff from the perspective of our killer when it finally comes out.**_

 _ **Also a quick note, I'm going to make a habit of rereading my story and if ever something comes up that I believe can either be changed or added to improve the overall flow of the story and keep it closer to the official canon, I am going to change it. The plot will remain practically identical, but bits and pieces of each chapter may change here and there over the course of this story's lifetime.**_


	4. Chapter 4

_Amend:_ To put right.

He had played around with the notion of quite a few different names for some time after he'd lost what little sanity he had left and decided to follow this path: Penance, Regret, _The Grimm Crusader_ … he liked superheroes… but all in all _Amend_ had struck a chord with him. When you made a mistake you were always supposed to make amends for it, to take responsibility for the thing you had done and _fix_ it no matter how small, and even _he_ knew that he was a gods damned mistake if ever there was one. The only problem though, the very reason for what he was doing now, was that nobody had taken responsibility for him, no one did what they should have done and instead did their best to ignore the sitation instead of doing what they could to make up for it.

It drove him up the wall to a _homicidal_ degree. _"Oh well, that's why I'm doing this,"_ he thought to himself, despite the tremor that rippled through his tar-like form as he walked through the night. " _They made a simple little mistake, and they have to answer for it-_ "

" _ **They need to**_ **pay** _ **!**_ " A furious voice in the back of his head snarled, making him wince and glare.

Amend pinched what could have been his nose as his eyes shut into glowing blue slits. "We've been over this…" He groaned tiredly. "This isn't about _revenge_ , it's about what's _right_."

" _ **They need to**_ **die** _ **!**_ **That's** _ **what's right!**_ " It aggressively roared back.

"And they _will_ ," Amend assured himself. "We just need to finish what we started first, we've got an entire city to clean up."

He got a growl in response. _**"**_ **Stupid** _ **! Waste of time!"**_

"It destroys more though," Amend pointed out, silencing the violent voice which brought of sigh of pure _relief_ out of him. " _Finally_ , I swear that guy is _nuts_ ," he mumbled to himself, completely unaware of the sickening irony of the statement.

Amend made his way along the street casually in blissful silence, drawing ever closer to the rhythmic pulsing of hatred and fear that was the White Fang's rally, his mouth contorting into a thin smirk that glowed with the same blue as the featureless orbs that were his eyes. It really was too easy he'd noticed, finding evil people that is, they were always so full of negative emotions it was as if they wore giant " _Come Kill Me!_ " signs around their necks just for him. On the other hand though, there were just so _many_ of them, it would be a real challenge for him to go about finding and butchering every single last monster in this city when new ones seemed to join their ranks every day. He wasn't complaining though, being a hero wasn't supposed to be easy, if it was then why would anyone bother being a villain?

Amend looked up from beneath his _"hood"_ as he walked towards the warehouse radiating with negativity and locked eyes on the entrance guarded by a large Bull Faunus right as he was letting in a blonde boy and black-haired girl. " _Alright boys, you know what to do,_ " he thought to himself as three black shapes zoomed past him in the shadows towards the positions of wherever the guards for the building were. " _Show time,_ " he mumbled while stretching a bit soundless. "Hi there!" He called out as he began walking towards the door to the warehouse, startling the guard who aimed his weapon.

"Faunus?" He asked, trying to get a good look at the person in front of them. "I don't see any signs," he growled, seeing nothing aside from the glowing blue Pumpkin-Pete rabbit on the stranger's shirt.

"Well that's because I don't have one big guy," Amend chuckled, smiling _literally_ brightly. "I'm not a Faunus."

The guard snarled and took a step forward. "Then what the fuck are you doing here, you filthy little human shit?!" He roared while shoving Amend back.

"Oh you know, just thought I'd visit the neighborhood," Amend responded sarcastically. "Get to meet the _friendly_ locals."

"You best get to moving then, or else we're going to show you just how _friendly_ we can be you fucking shit-stain!" The guard yelled with fury. "You think you're hot-shit just because you've got some dumbass looking glow suit, think you're cool with that or something?!" He spat on the floor. "Stupid little fucking human, you bastards make me absolutely sick!" He screamed into Amend's face, flinging spittle everywhere.

The vulgar words struck a chord with him however, and put a small frown on his face as he looked the man over. "Wait a minute… _Oxford_?" He asked incredulously, eyes widening with a flash of elation. "Is that _you_? The raging guy from the forum?"

"Yeah my name is Oxford, what the fuck is it to you?" The Faunus yelled back before letting out a snort, not noticing the ripple that went down Amend's black arm or the bone-like protrusions forming at his knuckles. _"Oh I get it,"_ he mumbled under his breath. "You gonna say you're that pussy Amend you fucking piece of-" he got no more out when Amends hand wrapped around his throat and pushed him all the way _above_ the doorway, pinning him against the warehouse wall with an unnaturally long arm.

"Yep, that's me," Amend nodded happily as the guard gasped beneath the pressure put on him. "And you're that outspoken hypocrite that went on and on about how awfully racist humans are," he pushed a bit extra making the Faunus snarl. "The same one who went out of his way to be a rude and violent jerk just because he thought I was a human, even though I hadn't said or done a single mean thing to him," he pointed out while lifting his other arm over his head. "You were going to hurt me, weren't you?" He asked as it began to stretch like the other while the palm began to expand. "You wanted to _kill_ me, but you couldn't do that without giving away your pals in there, so you were just going to hurt me all because you thought I was _**human**_ ," he snarled before smiling a freakishly wide smile, a hint of crimson glowing at the edges of his eyes. "Mistake," and with that his palm launched forward, smashing the bull's head against the wall in a splatter of gore with horrifying ease.

" _ **More,**_ " Amend then immediately rolled his eyes as he tossed the body to the side and flicked the bloody pieces leftover off his hand.

"You really need to learn some patience one of these days," he growled as he took hold of the door-handle. "It's always just _kill-kill-kill_ with you, but you can't just kill all your problems, that's no way to live," he said as he stepped inside and into the faint roar of a crowd. "Sometimes you've got to take your time, have some _fun_ with it, _then_ kill everything."

" _New recruits keep to the right!_ " A call came from his right and Amend smiled as he saw the blonde and black-haired pair of Faunus be directed down another hallway by a White Fang member far back.

" _Case in point,_ " He chuckled to himself before taking a breath. "Disguise, _activate_!" He whispered dramatically as his head began to bubble while he walked towards the terrorist.

The man didn't even notice that the two triangular ears jutting out the top of Amend's head and the bone-like mask he now wore across the top half of his face weren't there before as the killer made his way by casually, nor that instead of the usual red Amend sported a blue color scheme on his mask. "New recruits-"

"Stay to the right, got it," Amend finished, walking past him as the man rolled his eyes the moment he saw the blue glow of the killer's mouth.

 _"Kids these days,"_ he heard the terrorist mutter. " _Such stupid fashion…_ " He shook his head, but not before noticing what looked like feathers suddenly protrude from Amend's arm. "What the-" and he had no time to contemplate what it could have meant either before the killer flicked his wrist in the terrorist's direction, sending out a flurry of black feathers that pierced the man across his whole body and pinned him to the wall, killing him instantly.

" _See_? That was so much more fun than outright killing him," Amend chuckled to himself, his stride never faltering as the feathers along his arm sank back into his body. "And plus there's the fact that you don't just want to just _beat_ the bad guy, you gotta do it in a way that scares everyone _else_ so they don't make the same mistakes," he explained before stepping into the main area of the warehouse, filled to the brim with Faunus of all shapes and sizes who all stared at a stage where a White Fang wearing a different sort of mask paced back and forth in front of a large black sheet with their symbol printed across it.

"Thank you all for coming!" The man called out, addressing the crowd that Amend fell into. "For those of you joining us for the first time tonight, please allow a word from a very special comrade of ours," he asked and the killer's head tilted slightly upon seeing a girl with a mismatched, almost ice-cream flavored color scheme step out from behind the sheet, a large Scroll in her hands. "I assure you, that this man is the key to obtaining what we've fought for, for so long," he then gestured to the girl who pressed a switch on the Scroll before holding it over her head as the crowd finally noticed what she was.

 _"What's a human doing here?!"_ A girl cried out beside Amend as the Scroll blinked on to show the face of a man he recognized instantly by the dapper bowler hat on his redhead.

 _"Well you can't exactly expect me to come_ myself _when a lunatic is after you people, can you?"_ Torchwick asked incredulously before laughing as the crowd began jeering at his assistant. _"So I let my lovely assistant Neo here show up on her own to give you this message, you wouldn't want anything to happen to your organization's new best friend after all, would you?_ " He wondered out-loud as the jeering picked up even further. _"Ok-ok look, I get it I really do, humans are just the_ worst _,"_ he gestured to himself with a sarcastic chuckle. _"Case in point…"_ he continued as Amend shifted his attention elsewhere, boredom evident on his face as the crime-boss began his little speech.

So many people surrounded him, so many mistakes just waiting to happen, it broke his poor heart to see them all here on the cusp of ruining their lives all for some stupid momentary release from their downtrodden lives. It was so wrong, but then again it was why he was here in the first place, to help people like these ones, to make sure they _never_ made another mistake like this _ever_ again. He was here to right their wrongs, and he'd do it with a gods damned smile on his face…

-0-

Something was very wrong with these Grimm, that became obvious to Ruby the second the pair of Beowolves began zigzagging as they ran towards the group, of students dodging every round she fired at them while the King Taijitu followed a similar approach. " _What is wrong with these Grimm?!"_ She cried out.

Their actions weren't the only thing that set them apart from ordinary beasts however, she'd seen it the moment she'd settled her sights on them when they came into the lights along the buildings that made up their path. Instead of the usual red that most Grimm's eyes glowed with along with that which normally marked their boney exteriors _these_ ones had a piercing blue across their bodies. These things were not _normal_ , and she couldn't keep herself from worrying even more knowing that the one controlling them was inside that warehouse with Blake.

"We have to get in there, _now_!" She yelled, switching _Crescent Rose_ into scythe mode, only to have Yang grab her hood the second she moved to get up.

"Ruby _wait_!" She held her sister back Neptune took up a position and began firing his rifle at the approaching Grimm only to face the same result as Ruby. "These things aren't _normal!_ You can't just rush in blind!"

"What are we _supposed_ to do then?" Ruby snapped, only for her sister to cock her gauntlets.

"I said _you_ can't," the brawler stepped onto the edge of the building while popping her neck. "That's what I'm for sis," and with that she hopped off, fist ready for whichever Beowolf dived to intercept her as she fell… Only neither came at her and instead waited till she hit the ground with a roll to attack. "What the hell-" They came from both sides, their claws slashing into her Aura around her legs, damaging her stance right as the King Taijitu slithered up in a flash and reared both heads up in preparation to smash her.

But then two sniper rounds went off and both heads were engulfed in a mass of swiftly hardening ice that weighed them down and toppled the beast backwards. _"What have I told you about being so reckless?!"_ Weiss screamed from behind as more shots began raining down around the brawler, sending the two Beowolves scrambling away for cover as more ice bloomed into existence in random spots near them while Neptune continued to try and hit them with his shots as well.

Yang glanced back to see a series of glyphs rotating in front of Ruby's rifle as the reaper ejected a clip and reloaded. "Thanks guys!" She called out with a smile before she turned back at the sound of ice cracking. None of the group was expecting to see the Beowolves repeatedly headbutting the ice around the snake-Grimm to break it. "What is up with these things?! They fight like they're old but they don't look like it at all!" She fired off two shots then snarled when the beasts dodged out of the way, letting her projectiles impact against the ice and shatter it instead.

"Get down there and help her!" Weiss demanded from Neptune. "We can handle shooting from up here but we need to slow them down!"

"On it," he nodded, flipping his rifle around as it changed into his trident. "Let's see how these things like a taste of _this_!" He yelled as he jumped over the edge as his weapon was engulfed in a mass of sparks… only for him to be flicked out of the air and into a nearby wall by the King Taijitu's tail.

The twin-headed beast then turned its attention onto Yang while the Beowolves ran towards Neptune, its four blue eyes glaring at her hatefully as they hissed in unison. _"Oh great,"_ she muttered the moment it lunged.

-0-

Blake couldn't believe what she was witnessing as the sheet fell away to reveal a massive machine of war. She had been shocked enough by the fact that the White Fang, as fanatical as they were, would even consider the thought of working alongside a human, much less one like _Torchwick_.

" _As most of you have no doubt heard,"_ said criminal continued while the shadow-user shivered in place, this had not been what she'd been expecting at all, this wasn't supposed to have happened! _"_ This _is Atlas' newest line of defense, meant to protect against all the_ scary _things in the world,"_ he said sarcastically over the growing cheers while two among them remained quiet in silent fear for what was coming. " _And thanks to my employer, we've managed to snag a few before they…_ " he thought about it for a moment. " _Hit the shelves._ "

 _"This is bad,"_ Blake whispered anxiously to Sun who shared the feeling exactly despite trying his best to hide it under a cool shell. _"This is very,_ very _bad,"_ they had only meant to use this rally to trap a _killer_ , not discover some kind of criminal _conspiracy_!

 _"Now then,"_ Torchwick began again after the crowd had calmed down enough for his voice to be heard. " _Most of your brothers have already moved down to our operation in the south-east,_ " he said while Neo began pacing along the stage, getting bored of holding up the screen in one place. _"Now if any of you want to stay here in the city, that's_ fine _… But if you're_ really _ready to fight for what you believe in,"_ Neo gestured to the machine behind her. " _Then this is the kind of firepower I can offer you,_ " he smiled smugly as the crowd began raising its voice and clapping. " _Any questions?_ " He asked rhetorically as the crowd of members and recruits cheered while the Lieutenant took a deep breath, readying himself to call out.

That is until a _crack_ as loud as thunder rang through the warehouse, killing off the growing cheer before it could get any louder, then came another and another as all eyes went to a slowly clapping person wearing what looked like a hoodie with a neon-blue glowing Pumpkin-Pete mascot on its chest. " _Great_ speech," the stranger complimented as people began to angrily whisper while Torchwick and the two students frowned from their positions. "Really man, great job, I just got one question for you though," he let out an ominous chuckle. "What about this _Amend_ guy?" He pondered, sending a ripple of surprised murmuring throughout the crowd. "I mean, aren't worried the least bit that he might try to, oh I don't know, _interfere_?" They'd all forgotten entirely about the killer and his threat in the excitement, this stranger was _right_.

"Please, we can handle a single rabid _human_ ," the White Fang lieutenant spoke up, scowling a bit at the interruption. "Just because they can't handle one of their own doesn't mean we'll have any problem."

"Uh huh, I guess you're right, a human would be pretty easy to handle," the stranger nodded a bit in mock thought before clicking his tongue. "But what about a Grimm?" He wondered aloud and Blake's eyes widened from behind her mask as she and all around her backed away from the person that began bubbling and rippling as they stood.

She gaped in silent horror as the figure began laughing even as its body warped. _"Hell-_ ooo _terrorists and racists!"_ And that horror only grew as it called out to all present in a way Blake had seen in the afternoon. "How are we doing tonight my little hypocrites?" it was him… he was really here and he'd been less than _ten feet_ from her. "Now most of you should _probably_ know me," he chuckled as he began closing in on the stage, briefly catching the sight of Torchwick whispering through the Scroll and Neo nodding. "But for those of you that don't…" he stepped up onto the stage, forcing the odd-colored girl to cautiously retreat from the center of it. "My name is Amend," he said brightly as a pair of glowing blue eyes and a wide glowing mouth split open into an unnaturally wide smile across the black tar of his face. "And I've come to right your wrongs!"

Blake tapped repeatedly at the Scroll in her pocket, activating the signal over and over again as she and Sun slowly inched towards the back of the warehouse. "And just what exactly does that mean?" Torchwick asked, palm under his chin as he considered what he was seeing. "You going to kill everyone here big guy?"

"Oh Oum, _no!_ " A wave of confusion went through everyone present at the sheer horror in Amend's voice. "I may be crazy but I'm not a _monster_ ," he assured everyone as his back began to balloon out making everyone take a worried step back even while he looked at them all like he was a concerned bystander. "No, no I'm just going to kill the one's that _deserve_ it!" His back then popped like a blister, splattering the Paladin behind him in a mass of black. "That's all…"

 _"Hey!_ I just got that thing!" Torchwick snarled as the substance oozed down the metal.

"And I _really_ appreciate you giftwrapping it for me," Amend smiled with sickening sincerity as the black tar began to bubble and bits of white began to protrude and condense towards the cockpit of the war-machine. "It makes what I want to do here _so_ much easier, you wouldn't believe it," he chuckled while the Lieutenant behind him growled.

 _"Alright that is_ enough _!"_ He snarled and began advancing towards Amend's back. "I am _not_ just going to sit by and let some human _abomination_ threaten my-" He never got to finish as the Paladin's foot suddenly rose then smashed down on him, sending everyone inside the warehouse into a blind panic as the man popped under the weight in a shower of blood and devastated organs while a certain wide-eyed ice-cream colored criminal disappeared with the sound of shattering glass.

" _ **FREEZE!**_ " Amend then roared, his voice booming with enough force and malice to freeze everyone where they stood as the Paladin twitched behind him, the last of the bone and tar condensing into a blue striped Grimm mask that stared out with a single unblinking yellow eye. "There we go, wouldn't want any innocent people getting hurt in a stampede, would we?" He wondered aloud as the newly possessed machine took a stance, all its weapon systems readying with a mass of _clicks_ while its targeting lasers blinked on and strafed the room.

Blake shivered in place as her eyes went over every inch of the warehouse, where was her team? Had something happened to them? How were they supposed to get out of this death-trap?! _"Blake, you got any plans for this?"_ Sun hissed, ducking fearfully as one of the lasers passed over his head.

She didn't, she had no idea what to do right now! They'd been prepared for this psychopath to _attack_ with Grimm, not sneak in and reveal he _was_ one by spawning a gods damned _Geist_ that possessed a fully functioning _Paladin_ of all things! "Now then, shall we get to business?" Amend clapped his hands, startling everyone as he looked over the tense crowd. "I understand how some of you are feeling and I understand if some of you are skeptical hearing me say it but _please_ believe me," he pleaded as he knelt on the stage, looking into the terrified eyes of a deer Faunus who trembled beneath his glowing stare. "I understand that you feel cheated, and that you believe the only way to do anything about it is by giving up on people, but believe me when I say that's the _worst_ mistake you could ever make," he reached up and patted his chest. "Just look at yours truly if you don't believe me."

"So w-what do you want?" Someone called from the crowd and Amend smiled wide as he hopped to his feet.

"To save the ones that can be saved and deal with the ones that can't," he answered, rubbing his hands together excitedly. "And how I'm going to do that is _simple_!" He pointed down at the same deer-girl who jumped as the Paladin directed every weapon to her. "Do you want to live?" The girl nodded as she trembled. "Do you want to die like a worthless animal?" She shook her head, tears pricking her eyes as the machine towered over her, the Geist's eye staring into her _soul_. "Then take that mask off and _spit_ _on this corpse_ ," she froze up at that, as well as everyone else in the room, disbelief clear on her face as her lip quivered, awaiting a joke that would never come. "What?" He asked upon seeing the reaction. "Do you… do you _sympathize_ with this racist right here?" He asked while kicking a piece of loose meat. "Do you _agree_ with him and the things he wanted to do to random innocent people that never did _anything_ to Faunus?"

Her eyes drifted up to the war-machine before she slowly shook her head and reached up with trembling hands, tears flowing freely down her face as she looked to the remains of the Lieutenant. "N-No," she shook it frantically as she tore the mask off and scrambled onto the stage. "I-I never wanted _this_!" She swallowed then jammed her eyes shut before spitting on the pile of blood and guts that made her feel like a lot _more_ would be coming out of her mouth if she stood there any longer.

The smile on Amend's face could be described as radiant, which was terrifying given the circumstances. "Good girl, now then run on home," everyone jumped as the machine aimed a cannon at the wall behind them and blasted a thick hole out of it. _"And don't let me_ ever _catch you at something like this again,"_ he hissed making the girl seize up and stumble before she ran out the hole, sobbing uncontrollably even after exiting. _"Next!"_ He called out as the Paladin turned back to face the crowd fully. "You want to get out of here alive?! Then you show me you'll _never_ come back to these _hypocrites_ again!"

Blake trembled where she stood as she looked to Sun. " _Sun I… I-I_ can't, _he'll_ -" she was absolutely terrified of coming face to face with this _animal_. " _He'll_ recognize _me!_ "

Sun grit his teeth and looked around him desperately. _"We'll figure something out,"_ he mumbled, hoping beyond hope that there would be something they could use to get out of here. _"I'm not letting that_ thing _anywhere near you."_

"Well?" Amend called, looking around at all the terrified faces before snapping his fingers with a sigh causing the Paladin to respond by aiming up and blowing a hole out of the roof, showering everyone beneath with a rain of dust as they yelped and scream. "No takers?!"

" _We'll figure something out…_ " Sun repeated as people from the recruit's side of the rally began shakily removing their masks and lining up at the stage while the fully-fledged members watched in silent fury, unable to do anything as the Paladin kept its weapons trained on them. " _We'll figure this out!_ "

-0-

Yang panted but managed to keep herself standing as the King Taijitu circled her slowly, her eyes shining red while her hair remained its natural brightness. " _Come on you son of a bitch, hit me,_ " she snarled under her breath as the beast bobbed its twin heads back and forth, waiting for her to make a move first while the sounds of Neptune struggling could be heard outside her view.

These Grimm had been doing this for the entirety of the fight, the Beowolves had been focusing entirely on Neptune while Ruby and Weiss tried their hardest to hit the unnaturally sniper-savvy creatures with the reaper's rifle while the snake had kept the brawler occupied, never actually attacking and only dodging her efforts until she tried to move to help the bluenette. This thing somehow knew how to deal with her as if it understood her Semblance and it was pissing the blonde off! A pained yell came from behind Yang and she unconsciously turned to see Neptune falling back from a Beowolf, his Aura flaring around his chest from where the beast must have slashed him. She only realized her mistake the second she heard a hiss behind her followed by the feeling of two scaled bodies encircling her calves and shoulders.

" _No_!" She yelled as the twin-headed beast coiled around her, keeping her limbs locked against her but not with enough force to cause harm. "NO-NO- _NO_!" She screamed and struggled as the heads bobbed in front of her, tongues flicking out in unison before they turned to watch Neptune get picked apart by hit and run tactics from the Beowolves. "RUBY!" She yelled, catching her sister's attention and making the young girl gasp as she saw the position her sister was in.

"Yang! Hang on!" She yelled back, firing off a few enhanced rounds as Weiss panted and struggled to stand beside her, so many Glyphs without a break had been taking its toll on the heiress.

The shots fired had been aimed at the beast's heads however and the two dodged them with swift flicks of their necks. "NOT THE HEADS!" Yang yelled, struggling to breath as the Grimm tightened around her slightly. "HIT _ME_!" She ordered, making Ruby's eyes snap wide. "I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANY ARGUMENT! SHOOT ME OR _EVERYONE_ IS GOING TO DIE!"

The desperate cry made the girl go ramrod straight as her scope flicked to Neptune who appeared to be on his last leg then to the warehouse which was sporting a freshly made hole in its roof. The girl's eyes brimmed with overwhelmed tears as she then directed the scope to her sister's struggling form as the two-headed Grimm returned its focus to Neptune as one of the Beowolves tackled him from behind, sending him skidding across the floor. This was her sister, her _weakened_ sister who didn't have much Aura left, her sister who probably didn't have enough left to take a shot from _Crescent Rose_ , her sister who-

" _RUBY_!" The scream made the girl jam her eyes shut before she pulled the trigger…

And then the sounds of cannons firing and dozens of horrified screams snapped them wide open again just to see the bullet collide with Yang's shoulder with a horrifying _crack_ that made the girl snarl through her teeth as her hair practically _exploded_.

-0-

"So this is it then?" Amend asked, staring over the remaining crowd, some of the recruits remained and stood against the back wall in front of Blake and Sun while all the current members stood tense and prepared for anything to happen. "You all still stand by what this _organization_ preaches?" He sneered and got a load of growls thrown his way, making him sigh. "Well then, I guess there's no helping it," he shrugged casually even when two White Fang members charged the stage. _"Time to right some wrongs!"_ He growled as the Paladin snapped its cannons up and blasted the two men out of the air in a splatter of bloody parts that rained down on those below while Blake dragged Sun down to the floor where they tried to shelter their heads from the gore.

The panic that followed sent an undisguised shiver of satisfaction up the killer's spine as his Geist opened fire on the remaining crowd the second they tried to move, blasting body after body apart and launching their pieces against the back wall where a pile of blood and chunks was beginning to form. A rain of bullets poured into him and his Geist as some of the members managed to draw their weapons, but the projectiles did nothing more than plop into his skin with harmless little ripples and _plink_ against his Grimm's armor while he laughed and _laughed_ at the utter terror evident on the faces of those before him. _This_ is what he loved more than anything about what he did, seeing the look of fear and hopeless despair in the eyes of those that plagued Remnant with their awful mistakes and thought they could get away with not making amends for them.

"Was it worth it?!" He yelled, stepping off the stage and walking towards the pile along the back wall as the last of the White Fang here died pathetically for _nothing_. "Was _this_ worth being a bunch of hate-filled racist _hypocrites_ that hurt innocent people who never did _anything_ to you?!" His roar echoed through the warehouse as the cannons ceased firing. "… _Hello_?" He called into the building as his Geist stood down, its targeting lasers lighting up and strafing the room again. "Anyone left?" He peaked around every corner of the floor curiously before settling his hands on his hips. "Well then, looks like this is another job well done," He smiled brightly, all aggression and anger leaving his now eerily cheerful voice. "Good job me!" He clapped his hands together in a sickeningly joyous self-high-five. "And now comes the _fun_ part," he practically bounced on his feet as he picked up a piece from the pile with one hand while a perfectly functional Scroll slid out of his palm in the other.

Blake, while sickened and appalled, didn't know what to expect as this monster tapped away at the device while taking a lazy bite from the meat he'd grabbed, but what happened next was the last and by far _worst_ thing she could have even imagined: Her Scroll began buzzing. " _No…_ " She thought in disbelief. " _No, no that's not real,_ " she began trembling in place beneath the corpses above her as Amend tilted his head with a frown.

"Is that…" he turned towards the sound of buzzing then looked down at the Scroll as he began to shake in place himself. "No," he shook his head as he confirmed the number as correct. _"No-no-no, nononononono,"_ he chanted, dropping the device as ran to where Blake was hiding. " _NO_! YOU ARE _NOT_ HERE!" He cried desperately as he began digging through the carnage, sending bits and pieces flying to the sides. "YOU ARE NOT HERE! YOU ARE NOT GONE! YOU STILL NEED TO MAKE AMENDS! YOU STILL NEED TO-" his screams died on his lips the moment he took the last piece of meat from her. The girl could do nothing else but shake as she looked up through bloody strands of hair into the killer's eyes only for his shoulders to go limp as he let out a sigh of pure _relief_. " _Oh sweet merciful gods,"_ he stumbled back a step and wiped a bloody hand across his forehead. " _Phew_! Oh _Blake,_ please _never_ do that to me again!" He cried out and began advancing towards her.

"Don't you touch her!" Came a yell from his right and he turned just in time for a staff to snap his head to the side with a loud _crack_.

Sun would have kept going after that as well had a blackened and bloody hand with a grip like a Beringel not wrapped around his throat. "Hey, _Casanova_?" Amend slowly turned to face the boy, his head tilting ever so slightly as he let out a shaky breath and grabbed the Faunus' arm still holding onto the staff.

" _Sun_!" Blake screamed, trying to get up only to slip on the slick floor. "Don't you dare hurt him!" She yelled trying to get up again, only to freeze up when something dropped from the rafters and landed behind the killer, a long burning club in its hands.

But Amend didn't seem to notice either thing as he squeezed Sun's throat and arm, making him drop the weapon. "Do you _mind_?" He asked while the Faunus clutched at his throat with his free hand, gasping for air. "I'm trying to have a conversation with an old-" A metallic _bonk_ and a flash of flames cut off anything further and made him release his grip as something impacted against Amend's back and sent him flying in a fireball into the chest of his Geist, dragging the possessed machine back a few feet before the killer slid off its armor and landed on the floor with a wet _splat_.

"Are you alright miss Belladonna?! Mister Wukong?!" Amend's eyes snapped wide and a snarl left him as he sat up to see a loud and fast talking _someone_ with a head of green hair and their black vest covered back to him as they addressed the two fallen students as they lay on the bloody floor. "I apologize for not intervening sooner but the situation didn't allow for it at the time and while I know that is no excuse I will do my utmost best to make up for my actions at a later time!" Came an endless stream of words before the newcomer went ramrod straight in an instant and spun on his heel to face the killer. "But first to the task at hand!" They spouted, flourishing a long torch with a flaming head that illuminated their bespeckled face.

" _Oobleck_ ," Amend growled, pushing himself to his feet while the Doctor frowned ever so slightly upon being recognized here of all places. "Oh well isn't that just _great_?" The killer asked sarcastically, a glowing scowl on his face. "Anyone _else_ want to just show up unexpectedly?" And as if the universe itself had heard him a faint sound began intensifying and drew a frown on the killer's face. "Uh, what is that?" It sounded like a rhythmic _pounding_ accentuated by an ever-growing scream… "What?" He asked as the wall to the side of the stage cracked. " _What_?!" He cried as the body of a King Taijitu, _his_ King Taijitu, smashed through that wall and collided with his Paladin as a ferocious scream filled the room. " _ **WHAT?!**_ " Amend roared as the beast began dissolving while his possessed machine struggled to right itself from beneath it.

 _"Get away from Blake right now you son of a-"_ Yang blinked upon entering the hole she had made, a little taken aback by the scene that awaited her. "Professor Oobleck?" She asked with confusion before her eyes drifted to her bloodied partner on her struggling to her feet right behind him.

Amend slumped right then and there, a groan going through him while a shiver went up Yang's spine as her already red eyes seemed to shift in intensity, her hair glowing vibrantly as her fists clenched. "Just once?" He asked, looking skyward as the brawler let out a mad scream and charged him. "Could you give me a break for just-" A vicious fist to his face sent him rocketing through a wall on the other side of the warehouse and stopped whatever else he wanted to say as several people fell in through the hole behind the brawler, two of them using each other to support their battered forms.

" _Blake_?!" Came a terrified call as a storm of petals passed through the whole warehouse before colliding with the bloodied Faunus. "Are you okay?! Are you hurt?! Who's blood is this?! What happened?!" The little reaper fired off one question after the other, her eyes streaming tears as she looked into her friend's with concern. "What did he-"

"Miss Rose!" Oobleck cut off anything further with a hand on the girl's shoulder. "While I am sure that miss Belladonna requires comfort from her team for what she has experienced here I do not think that this is the appropriate time!" The reaper blinked upon seeing one of her professors of all people here, but the sound of large weapons cocking drew her attention from him. "We should deal with the task at hand first!" The Doctor stated, brandishing his torch as the Geist took a stance and aimed its many weapons at those that now stood before it.

But then a twitch went through it and it turned to face the hole Amend had been sent flying through, its weapons falling to its sides limply. _"Yeah, how about_ no _?"_ Came an exasperated voice and in immediate response the Paladin tensed up before falling backwards with a booming _thud_ as the Geist's ethereal form slipped out of it and flew towards the dust clouded hole. _"Much as I'd_ love _to have a nice little chat with all of you, I'd rather not do it face to face,"_ Amend's fading voice called. " _You'll be hearing from me though, that's a promise!_ "

"Coward!" Screamed Weiss before she struggled to make her way to her teammates side as the Faunus fell to her knees, clutching her shoulders tightly as she trembled.

" _Sticks and stones Snow-Angel!_ " Came a response that sent a reflexively disgusted shiver up the heiress' spine before the night went eerily quiet and left her with a confused frown on her face. What had he called her?

"Ok…" Yang panted, drawing everyone's attention to her as her eyes returned to their usual shade while her hair dimmed back to normal as well. "Can someone… please explain… what the hell… just happ- _oh crap-"_ she slurred before her eyes rolled up and she fell to her knees only to be caught by Oobleck.

"Yes miss Xiao-Long, I believe I can," the doctor answered, his voice uncharacteristically slower as he looked over the terrifying scene that surrounded them. "But first, we need to get you all back to Beacon," he stated while taking out his Scroll. "You all obviously will need time to recover before we can discuss what occurred here today."

That thought alone made Blake tense up and squeeze herself tighter. " _As if we'll ever be able to recover from_ this," she thought bitterly, feeling every inch of her clothes stiffen with the blood of the many Faunus that died here.

That _monster_ would see to it that they never found any peace until the day either they or it died.

* * *

 _ **Alrighty, managed to push out a fourth. I think I should be able to follow this schedule for a bit, 2 chapters between Friday and Sunday sounds good so I'll try my hand at it again next week.**_

 _ **Next Chapter is going to take a bit longer than expected, got hit with extra work, not sure on a specific date anymore. Apologies.**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Hey all, long time no see. Sorry about the long wait, stuff just kind of took my attention away from following up on the story for a while, I know that's not a good excuse but hey that's that. Hopefully I'll be able to put in some more work for all of you, but with my new job taking up most of my days that aren't Thursday + Friday it'll probably end up being something new about every other week.**_

 _ **Hopefully.**_

 _ **But other than that I can only thank those who liked this story and kept up with it for this long despite having heard nothing for so long, and welcome any newcomers that stumble in and find themselves interested. Hope you like it.**_

* * *

The state of JNPR's dorm could almost be described as comical had anyone but themselves been there to witness their current… _activities_. Ren lay completely limp face down on the floor surrounded by various cleaning products while Pyrrha sat against a nearby wall with a scattered assortment of tools around her, her chest heaving with pure frustration as she watched their last teammate pound into Crocea Mors repeatedly with her hammer, grunting with each futile strike against the surface. Pyrrha had known to begin with that, whatever it was sullying Jaune's weapon, it wasn't going to come off easily but she hadn't been expecting _this_! They'd tried _everything_ they could think of, soaking, scrubbing, scraping, _chiseling with Nora's hammer,_ but nothing they had done produced any noticeable difference.

 _"Why! Won't! You! Come! Off?!"_ The bomber screamed trying to vent her anger as she angled her weapon to strike at a particular spot of black over and over again from all directions.

Pyrrha honestly felt as if she were one step from doing the same after all the work they'd put in for nothing, however… "Nora," she finally spoke up with a sigh. "That's enough, it's not working."

" _I! Don't!_ CARE _!_ " If anything Pyrrha's words made the girl hit all the harder, sweat flying off her with each savage blow.

" _Nora!_ " The hammer froze mid-strike, a black glow surrounding it while Pyrrha held up a trembling hand as she struggled against her teammate's strength. " _Please_ … _stop_ …" She pleaded through grit teeth.

"She's right Nora," Ren propped himself up on an elbow to look at her. "This isn't working, we need to think of something else."

Nora glared down at the dirty shield on the ground before letting go of her weapon with a snarl as she stomped away. "We've already _tried_ everything!" She huffed as Pyrrha gently set the hammer down on the floor. "Nothing works!" She whined.

"There's still plenty of things we don't know about what happened to Jaune's weapon Nora," Pyrrha pushed herself up and went over to the other girl. "We just need to take a bit more time than we thought is all," she lay a hand on Nora's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "We'll find a way, for Jaune's sake."

Nora's shoulders sagged and Pyrrha could actually _see_ the depression in the bomber's eyes as she turned to face her. _"But what if we don't?"_ She whispered as Ren came over to join them, his hand slipping over one of her own as he looked to her with pained sympathy. " _What if it's stuck like this because of that guy?_ "

Ren's gaze hardened. "Then we'll do our part to find him and we'll _make_ him fix it," he squeezed her hand tightly, making her face him. "He did this to Crocea Mors somehow, so if we can get our hands on him we can get answers about whatever it is," he nodded his head towards the shield. "And maybe a clue on how to remove it."

"We'll get through this Nora," Pyrrha gave her a soft smile. "We'll find Amend, fix Jaune's weapon and get justice for what that _murderer_ did to it."

Nora's hands balled into fists. _"I'm going to break every bone in his body,"_ she growled, shaking between her teammates.

And for once Ren didn't feel a need to refute the statement. "Just try not to kill him," he honestly felt like he could hold this monster down just so she had an easier time doing it. "At least not before we get him to talk."

Nora gave a sharp nod and was about to speak again when she suddenly felt her scroll buzz and noticed a similar twitch from her team as they eyed their pockets. "You got one too?" She asked with a frown as they all pulled out their devices.

Pyrrha eyed hers with worry as she opened up her messages and her concern only grew as she read aloud the message with Ozpin's signature at the bottom. _"Come to infirmary, new development with Amend, RWBY involved,"_ her eyes went wide and she was heading for the door within a second, Nora and Ren scrambling to grab their weapons and follow.

"Do you think any of them got hurt?" Ren asked, shoving his SMGs into their holsters. "They would have told us if they had right?"

 _"If that freak hurt them I swear…"_ Nora snarled under her breath, knuckles white from clenching her fists so tightly.

"I don't know, but it must be serious if they're calling for us," Pyrrha walked all the faster at the thought of her friends being hurt, her focus on nothing but the door to the stairs. "We better hurry," she got a nod from her team and they all sped up in unison to reach their friends ASAP… completely oblivious of the blue-eyed tendril peeking through a nearby window, watching them until they finally disappeared down the stairs.

…

RWBY and co. had been expecting Pyrrha to be upset after hearing the abridged explanation from Ozpin, Glynda and Oobleck upon arriving to the infirmary, but this… "You did _what_?!" Pyrrha cried, making all of team RWBY as well as Sun and Neptune flinch. "What were you thinking?!" The worry and concern in her scolding put even Glynda's earlier rant to shame in their eyes. "Why didn't you call any of us?! We would have helped you!" The supervisor wanted to say something at that but a subtle wave of Ozpin's hand had her bite her tongue.

Ruby's eyes fell to the floor sadly while the rest tried to avoid Pyrrha's stare. "Y-you were going to talk to Jaune's family…" She spoke up weakly.

"And Ren and Nora were busy trying to clean his weapon," Yang rubbed the back of her head uncomfortably, her voice uncharacteristically cowed. "It just… it didn't seem right to take you guys away from that."

The anger in Pyrrha's eyes ebbed a bit at that. "I appreciate it but that's no excuse," she took a deep breath to try and calm herself. "You all could have gotten seriously hurt," her eyes drifted over to Sun, specifically the cast around one of his arms and the plain robe Blake had been made to wear due to the state her clothes had been in. "In fact, some of you already _did_ ," she noticed the guilt filled wince from the Faunus as she sagged in place. "Please don't put yourselves at risk like that just because you think it'd ' _bother'_ us," her hands clenched into fists. "Because I assure you, getting our hands on that _monster_ would be more than we could ever hope for."

"How is…" Weiss cleared her throat, trying to regain her composure enough to say his name. "How is Jaune's weapon by the way?" The sight of NPR's in-sync clenching of fists told her not well.

"Nothing we did worked," Ren answered with a shake of his head. "Whatever that stuff is, it's almost like it _refuses_ to move."

"Which, as it just so happens, is actually true," Oobleck spoke up, drawing all eyes to him before he glanced over to Ozpin who gave him the wave to go ahead. "That substance, as we've just recently learned, is actually a living _part_ of this Amend," the information probably would have surprised all present, if not for RWBY's testimony.

"So he's really a Grimm then?" Pyrrha grimaced, having been skeptical at first despite everything. "How is that even possible?" It didn't seem real…

"Unknown, but given what we've found with our own tests as well as what we witnessed during this recent… _incident_ …" the single pause seemed so odd given the doctor's usual speed, but it set in stone just how awful that massacre had been. "It is now 100% clear to us that the material on mister Arc's weapons is comprised of millions of living cells which have hardened into a self-regenerating flesh-like substance similar to what most Grimm-types possess."

"So there's no way to get it off?" Nora seemed so downtrodden that all present almost winced had it not been for Ozpin speaking up.

"Not exactly," he pulled out his scroll and the screen opened up to an image of a mass of what appeared to be black dots interconnected by a kind of membrane. "What you're seeing here is a microscopic image of shavings we managed to take from Jaune's weapon using dust infused tools," his spectacles glinted at the memory of just how much they had to use to get so little. " _Many_ tools, and something quite interesting happened to them during the time you encountered Amend," he pressed a button on the screen and everyone watched in uncomfortable silence as the cells began vibrating and twitching in place. "According to Oobleck Amend suffered multiple blows that managed to splatter his body on impact and forced him to regenerate," the students all tensed as the cells suddenly spasmed and went wild while still managing to keep their connection with each other. "What you're seeing now is our sample reacting to these attacks."

 _"So they're still connected,"_ Blake's eyes narrowed as she watched the cells settle only to go wild once again a moment later, no doubt from Yang's strike that sent him flying. "Even from that far away?"

"Apparently so," Ozpin nodded. "We're currently working on tests which hopefully may produce a way of tracking Amend by using the samples we've acquired," he turned to look at Pyrrha. "We don't know yet if this will affect what's on Crocea Mors or not, so we wanted to let you know to keep an eye out and report any reactions."

"And also, to _not_ pursue anymore attempts against this murderer," Glynda said, looking over all before her and continuing before any of the students could voice their disagreement. "He's even more dangerous now that we know he's not human, and I will not have my _students_ risking their lives when their _teachers_ should be handling this," she growled pointedly while glaring over to Ozpin who stared on impassively.

"You can't just expect us to do nothing!" Yang snapped. "After everything that freak has done? When he's planning to do even _more_?!"

"Yeah! You think I'm letting him get away with _this_?" Sun winced a bit as he lifted his damaged hand. "You think I'm letting that psycho go when he's after my friends?"

"Students _please_ Ms. Goodwitch is right," Oobleck tried to calm them. "Understand that things are not as simple as they were before, this Amend is incredibly dangerous-"

"What Grimm _isn't_?!" Blake shot back, glaring at the adults. "What makes him worse than any of the other monsters we're being _trained to fight_?"

"A deranged Human intelligence," Oobleck countered immediately. "He's not another beast driven by pure instinct like other Grimm, he has a personality, an agenda, one that has already claimed _dozens_ of lives!"

"So why not get more people to fight him?" Ruby spoke with frustration. "He's after _my_ team, we could help you trap him!"

"Out of the question!" Glynda snapped. "I will _not_ let this go any further-" a sudden buzzing caught her attention as all eyes turned to Blake who had stiffened in place. "Ms. Belladonna?" She asked with narrowed eyes.

"My scroll…" she took the device from her pocket with a shaky hand and flipped it on. "I-I don't recognize the number…" All but two in the room shifted in place with mounting dread.

"May I?" Ozpin asked, holding his hand out as Oobleck adjusted his glasses, a glare pointed at the device.

Blake nodded, handing it to the man with clear relief before attempting to straighten herself as he activated the speaker function and accepted the call which was silent for a single agonizing second before- _"Congratulations!"_ An overly peppy voice all but yelled through the phone, startling everyone present. " _You've won an all-expense paid remodeling from Vindicator Cleaners!_ "

Everyone practically stumbled in place upon hearing that and a multitude of held breaths were blown out furiously. " _Seriously_?!" Yang snarled under her breath. " _Freaking_ _telemarketers_!"

Even Ozpin had to breath in to calm himself. "I'm sorry sir, but we'll have to refuse the offer," he spoke civilly despite being the slightest bit perturbed by this turn of events himself.

But then he heard a confused noise from over the line. " _Oh my apologies! I think I have the wrong number,"_ he could actually hear the apology in their tone. _"Could have sworn this belonged to Blake Belladonna,_ " his eyes narrowed as the voice trailed off.

"This is her number, yes," he responded while the rest of the group began eyeing the device with similar suspicion.

 _"It is? Then who are-"_ He heard a light _slap_ over the line. "Oh! _Ozpin it's you!_ " The person on the line laughed a bit while the headmaster frowned. "Phew! _Was worried there for a second,_ that _would have been embarrassing if I'd called the wrong person with this shtick!_ " Ozpin's gaze hardened along with all present. " _You there Blake? Or is she at a therapist right now after my stunt last night?_ "

A glare placed itself on all present as Ozpin stared down at the device. "Amend, I presume?" He asked, ignoring the question.

" _Duh, who else can reference slaughtering a bunch of racists yesterday?_ " The murderer responded sarcastically. " _Look sir, if she's not there could you tell me so I can try a couple more numbers? I_ really _want to keep my promise and get in touch with team RWBY._ "

 _"We're here you son of a bitch,"_ Yang's growled down at the device, her eyes blazing red. " _What do you want?_ "

" _Oh you are?_ Perfect _!_ " Amend laughed with genuine surprise. _"Was worried one of you was gonna come back to your room early and ruin the surprise before I finished,"_ all of Team RWBY froze in place, horrified realization donning on their faces. " _You guys really need to do something about these bunks by the way, talk about a hazard,_ sheesh _!_ " He was in their dorm!

Ozpin snapped a finger and pointed to Glynda and Oobleck who tore out their own scrolls, furiously typing into them. "I'm not going to ask how it is you got inside my school, I will however ask what it is you want."

 _"Already told you at the start didn't I?"_ Amend asked with faux confusion. " _Blake here won an all-expense paid remodeling by Vindicator Cleaners!_ " The bright tone did nothing but infuriate and sicken all present. _"You didn't really think I'd just let her go after you guys screwed up my plan last night, did you?"_

"You _got_ what you wanted didn't you?!" Blake snapped. "You murdered all of those Faunus!"

" _Ah-ah-ah, I amended_ mistakes _,_ " the killer _corrected_ her just adding to her fury. " _And besides, the point of that whole thing was just so I could give you a call, have a nice dramatic speech about you being an ex-terrorist and how ironic that is given how you treated a certain_ someone _for lying,_ " that made her wince as the rest of her team tensed, knowing exactly who he meant. " _But then you just_ had _to end up being there with your friends, so yeah thanks for screwing_ that _up,_ " he had the audacity to huff with annoyance. " _But anyway whatever, I can still make it work-_ " he cut off with a confused sound. " _Uh… did that box just move?_ "

"Excuse me?" Ozpin asked, not understanding.

" _No-no-no excuse_ me _, it's just I could have sworn I saw this package here move,_ " they heard footsteps. " _You got_ something _here Ruby, it's addressed to you and Yang from… Signal? What the heck-_ " the sound of tape ripping was followed by utter silence as the two glanced at each other in confusion. " _Um… ok I'm not going to lie,_ " a little _yip_ rang through the connection and the two sisters froze in place, their eyes widening in disbelief and ever-mounting horror. " _I was_ not _expecting a dog,_ " a torrent of little barks came through right before Ruby blasted through the nearest window in a shower of petals and glass, Yang jumping out right behind her. " _What was that?_ " Amend asked casually upon hearing the glass shatter and the sound of Yang's gauntlets firing repeatedly to control her fall. _"Everything alright over there?"_ An answer never came as the scroll fell to the floor, everyone moving to get out of the room and to the dorms as fast as they could. " _Hello? Anyone?_ "

-0-

"Hmm," Amend stared down at his device for a moment. " _Rude_ ," he huffed before shrugging. "Oh well whatever, my work here is done," he glanced down at the corgi looking back up at him with a tilted head. "Say hi to the girls for me when they get back will you?" The dog just barked in response. "Gonna assume that means yes, nice meeting you," he waved while moving over to the window, opening it just a crack while his body bubbled and stretched to fit through the tight space.

And he would have continued on his merry way after fully reforming onto the outside wall as well too had it not been for the sound of a rifle and a bundle of red suddenly slamming into him in a shower of petals. " _WHERE IS ZWEI?!"_ Ruby screamed at the top of he lungs even as she and Amend fell towards the ground.

Yet despite the current situation the killer still casually contorted his glowing features into a frown. "Who?"

Ruby grit her teeth in rage and stood up on his chest. _"WHERE IS MY DOG?!"_ She yelled before jumping up and taking aim with her Scythe as they continued to fall.

Amend hit the ground with a splat, blanketing a wide area in bubbling black as round after round slammed into him from Ruby, both spreading him further while breaking her own fall slightly with each shot. _"Oh so_ that's _his name,"_ a tiny blob managed to form, a pair of blue eyes cracking open along with a glowing grin that let out a garbled voice. _"I didn't do anything to him, he's_ fine _! What do you take me for a_ monster _?"_ He laughed before a loud bang went off to his side, making him flatten his _head_ to watch an explosive shot zoom over it and crash into the ground on his other side. " _Hi Yang_!" He called out, pushing himself back up in time to see the blonde right as she caught her falling sister. "Man, you two got here _fast_ ," he complimented with some surprise as more of his body joined the blob, allowing him to grow enough to regain arms which quickly placed themselves on his regenerating hips. "Makes you wonder a bit about a certain day huh?" He asked while glancing over at Yang, an accusation evident in his voice. "What could have happened if you had gone this fast _then_ I wonder…"

Yang's eyes burned with rage as she cocked her weapons. _"Shut your mouth,"_ she snarled, taking her stance while her sister did so as well. "You're going down freak."

"Oh please," Amend rolled his eyes. "And just who exactly is going to take me down? _You_?" He asked with a chuckle that only served to enflame Yang more. "Because if I remember correctly you guys had enough trouble trying to take care of just a few of my Grimm," one of his arms began shifting then, the palm splitting open into a blue glowing maw of rapidly condensing boney teeth. " _And those weren't even some of the worst I could make,_ " he laughed darkly as the mouth began crackling with lightning. "So, if you'd be so kind, I'd enjoy getting of here so I can follow up on a little lead I have involving some terrorists and other such villains," he pointed the arcing appendage at the sisters who tensed to dodge the moment anything happened. "Unless of course you _want_ me put the two of you down? I'm sure I could pull that off without killing you," he shrugged then. " _Maybe._ "

"Why are you doing this?" Ruby asked, slowly inching to the side while her sister did the same in the opposite direction, his crackling hand following the reaper as she crept along. "What do you _want_?"

A shiver went up the killer's spine as she asked. " _Ohhh that is_ such _a good cliché,"_ he laughed under his breath making the girl frown. "Trying to get me monologuing until the cavalry arrives, fishing for some hints about my identity and motivations, would have probably worked too had it not been for my _extensive_ knowledge on this subject," he chuckled smugly. " _But_ I've already given you enough hints with my little stunt yesterday, and a good protagonist needs to _struggle_ when their antagonist gives them a mystery to solve," he continued to snigger as his other hand went through a similar transformation that he pointed at and followed Yang with. "You just gotta be patient and wait for the rest of your team's turn, you'll get more and more hints every time, I _promise_."

"You say that as if we're letting you out of here," Yang growled, but she only got another infuriating laugh in response.

"And you say that as if you could stop me," he then caught both of them off guard by smiling brightly while dropping both his arms. "Want to know the best part about being an inhuman monster with Grimm powers?" He reached up with a rapidly shifting hand and took hold of his head. "It's that I can _cheat_ , really easily," and then he casually ripped his own head off as it morphed into a smiling orb. "I can live through some pretty crazy stuff, and all I need to get better is the smallest little part, one that can just slither off into a dark corner until the rest of me can get there," his smile then suddenly because maddened as his body took a pitcher's stance. " _Want to see?!_ " He cried, his body throwing his head towards Yang with the force of a cannon as Ruby slammed her scythe blade into the ground to fire.

The blonde was caught off guard for only a moment before she reigned herself in and cocked back a fist… only for Amend's head to suddenly fizzle away into a fading cloud of black that her hand passed through harmlessly. " _What_?!" She swiped through the cloud twice more, only for it to break apart and fade even faster as Ruby fired over and over again from her position. "No…" she turned to face his headless body which stood waving even as it began crumbling beneath the rain of Ruby's rifle, its chunks breaking into clouds of their own. " _No_!" She screamed, firing herself but ultimately accomplishing nothing as the clouds all faded into the air. _"Damn it…"_ she hissed, fists trembling as she fell to her knees. _"DAMN IT!"_ She roared, slamming an aura charged fist into the ground, shattering the stone as her sister slumped against her scythe.

 _"Yang! Ruby! Are you two alright?"_ The pair turned to see Weiss, Glynda and Oobleck running towards them. "Where is he? We heard shooting?" The heiress search everywhere for a trace but found nothing but her two downtrodden teammates. "What happened?"

"He got away," Ruby answered sadly, eyes dropping to the ground as her sister hit the ground again.

"He played with us that's what!" She yelled, managing to fight back the frustrated tears that threatened to prick her eyes. "He's treating this like a damn game! He didn't take _either_ of us seriously!" Her shoulders sagged limply. "… _I couldn't do anything… I was a joke to him._ "

"How did he escape?" Oobleck asked, searching while hefting his torch. "We didn't see anything."

"He-" Ruby couldn't do anything but give an exasperated shrug. "He just broke apart and turned into a cloud, like the smoke Grimm give off when they die."

"Right after telling us how he can heal from anything so long as he has a small part hanging out somewhere for the rest to go to," Yang growled while pushing herself up. "Who knows where he is now?"

"Did he give any clues?" Glynda asked, eyeing her student sadly as she refused to meet anyone's eyes. "Anything at all?"

"He said something about following a lead about ' _terrorists and villains,_ '" Ruby answered lowly, settling a hand around her sister's waist while resting her head against the blonde's arm. "I think he means the White Fang," Yang nodded, leaning her head into her sister's hair.

"Hmm, we'll have to discuss with Ms. Belladonna and Mr. Wukong then, perhaps they learned something in that rally they haven't yet realized," Oobleck adjusted his glasses. "There's always hope, even in the darkest of moments, never forget that students."

 _"Hey everyone?"_ The assembled group looked up to see Sun calling down to them from the window to RWBY's dorm. "You guys need to come see this," he glanced back and they all could see his wince. " _It's… it's pretty bad._ "

Yang's lip curled while she gently moved Ruby off of her. "Can't be any worse than what that thing has already done," she sulked as she made her way towards the entrance to the dorms, the rest following her with sympathetic glances.

"Do you really want to jinx us at this point?" Weiss asked, hoping to spark anything from her teammate… but all she got was a glance that clearly stated: " _Not the time._ "

Weiss' gaze fell while letting out a sigh. _"I hate this,"_ she mumbled falling in place beside her partner.

Ruby looked up to their window as the continued, dreading what they'd find when they finally got there. _"We all do,"_ she whispered, before feeling a hesitant hand wrap around her own. "But we'll get through it," she turned to Weiss and gave her the brightest smile she could that helped to quell the uncertainty in the heiress' eyes. "We always do," now all she had to do was work on snuffing out her own worries.

If that was even possible at this point.


End file.
